Trifox is a retro 3D platformer inspired by Crash, Ratchet and Clank, and a little bit of Zelda, with some nice little twists of its own, on top.
It’s an interesting mix that works for the best part as our titular hero embarks on a quest to recover his stolen TV remote. (that’s the set-up, nothing complicated here, just a stolen McGuffin and a pissed-off cybernetic Fox, what more do you want.)
The level layout is straight out of Crash Bandicoot, with you hopping through portals to go to each set of levels. The visuals are as bright and breezy as you would expect. While the cut scenes that push the plot along are simple yet fun and feature the kind of grunts and whistles that would make Banjo and Kazooie proud.
The platforming is mostly on point. Each level is filled with plenty of collectables, nice environmental puzzles, and the occasional baddy to smack with a massive hammer.
What’s interesting is how the game allows you to customise Trifox to fit your prefered playstyle, with three separate skill trees with different attack patterns and abilities to unlock. Warrior lets you perform dashes and get up close and personal with a massive mallet. Mage grants you the ability to teleport and fight from afar with spells, while tech gives you a gaggle of gadgets to dispatch foes with.
The fun part is that you can unlock new attacks and abilities from these three disciplines and mix and match to make your own platforming hero.
New abilities are bought from the hub world store using loot gathered in each level. These are then assigned to different buttons in the same way as items are in a typical Zelda game. It’s a cool system that gives you extra offence and platforming options than you usually see in most 3D platformers.
The main problem Trifox has is its combat. Even though you’re swinging a bloody great warhammer, attacks seem to have no heft to them and never feel like they connect. This leaves you tapping away, hoping to hit whatever is swinging its sword in your general direction enough times for it to snuff it.
Although it does not quite hit the heady heights of the titles that inspired it, Trifox is still a charming platformer in its own right. With a bright and breezy art style, a fun protagonist and some great twists on the well-worn platforming formula, fans of 90s platformers should consider checking it out.
