Lil Gator Game Review - A little alligator on a big adventure
No cardboard cutout monster can stay alive!
© MegaWobble / Playtonic Friends
Als you are a little crocodile with your big sister in a holiday camp on an island. However, instead of playing with you like she used to, she just works on her laptop on a project for school. So your plan to explore the world again with her as a legendary hero falls through for now. To motivate them anyway, you team up with some friends to set up a little Zelda adventure. Monster-themed cardboard cutouts will appear all over the island, which you can destroy with the powerful sword (a stick). You collect the remaining confetti to build new items with it, for example. If you solve smaller "quests" such as tracking down an item, you will also receive a pointed cap, a shield that you can use for surfing, and a brown T-shirt that also functions as a paraglider. You can also climb with the right items. Your stamina is shown in rings and can be improved. Does this all sound familiar to you? That's what it's supposed to be; You will see plenty of references to the Zelda series, including in numerous dialogues. You record your adventures in photos that you send to your sister to motivate her to turn off the computer.
A trip back to childhood!
After a few events you leave the small island and reach a much larger area, which can be freely explored. There you will meet a variety of animal children that you can make friends with if you solve small tasks for them. A shark has lost its teeth, which you must find, while another character requires you to defeat (cardboard) ninjas within a time limit. In addition to these smaller quests, there are also three overarching tasks that will bring you several friends in order to get closer to your big goal: build your own "village" to convince your sister to play with you.
A Memory of the Past
© MegaWobble / Playtonic Friends
As you progress through the adventure, you'll earn new equipment in the form of hats, swords, and shields. There is the cowboy hat, a lightsaber or a chess board that you can equip. While some are added directly to your inventory, others require confetti, which is obtained by defeating the cardboard cutouts. There are also objects like a camera or a bubble gum whose bubble you can use to hover briefly. On your journey of discovery you will also occasionally encounter memories of the past in the form of ghostly figures of yourself, with which you reflect on the beautiful experiences you had with your big sister. In general, the dialogues with your friends are one of the big highlights. Not only do you get loads of video game references like an Ace Attorney-style court case, your conversations that turn every situation into an adventure story are just sweet as candy and take you back to your childhood.
Graphically, the game hits the mark with its cartoonish design. The character designs are adorable and the autumnal world design is also successful. However, I often had trouble finding my way around as the game doesn't offer a map that can be opened at any time. I often had the feeling of running in circles. I discovered a large area quite late, although it should have been found much earlier. You don't need all of your friends to complete the story, and after the credits roll you'll be awarded items to help you find characters and cardboard cutouts that you missed in order to reach 100%. Although the game is quite short at just over five hours, the playing time felt much longer to me. Probably another effect of the game design, because as a youngster, time seemed to pass even more slowly.
