Thursday, May 11, 2017

Throwback Thursday - Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

Welcome to another Throwback Thursday, our weekly look into my Top 100 games and general nostalgia.  This week's headliner: The game with small comical sidekicks that is Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.


Released in the US on December 3rd, 2001, Jak and Daxter was a new game series to follow Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot series.  It features a teenage boy named Jak as your silent protagonist,  partnered with an obnoxious and humorous friend, Daxter, whom is transformed into a strange otter / weasel-like animal at the start of the game.  Together, they travel across various fantasy / sci-fi inspired landscapes to collect power cells and precursor eggs, and ultimately thwart the plans of certain villainous characters to unleash Dark Eco upon the world.



The game features a captivating story with a fully voiced and animated cast of characters.  And if you are to play the later games in the series, the story explores even more interesting territory with themes of time travel and ethical dilemmas.  However, this first game in the series, The Precursor Legacy, is unique with its more lighthearted tone and focus on platforming-adventure gameplay.  There is something inherently fun about playing with a dynamic duo of characters and performing all sorts of interesting combos and moves.  And aside from some solid platforming action, the game features a wealth of fun variety and mini-games / challenges to be found in each world.  Riding the hoverbike is especially satisfying with its tight controls and sense of speed achieved.



If you're a fan of 3D-platformers with that "colllectathon" mechanic, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is definitely worth a look.  You'll find the gameplay engaging and will likely stay for the humor and charm this game presents.  And it's an interesting look at the company Naughty Dog that would later debut games such as the Uncharted series and Last of Us.

Fun Fact: Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was the first console game to feature a single, unbroken 3D world.  Thanks to Naughty Dog's advanced "streaming" technology, the game world could be explored without any loading times between areas.

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