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Taru Taro Legends
bit of advice for newcomers:
if you’re exploring Taru Taro
Legends’ leafy world for the
first time, don’t do what this
hapless writer did, and plough on
through the level without taking note of the axe
sitting high up in a tree right at the beginning.
Without first climbing
a bough and grabbing
the weapon, you’ll be
defenceless against
the barrage of flying
insects, and pretty
much guaranteed
to die within seconds. *rab the axe, and you
discover that the game’s world is an awful lot
bigger – and friendlier to navigate – than it
initially appears.
In fairness, browser-based platform adventure
Taru Taro Legends is still at a relatively early
stage of development, and designer 6ilvan
6tr¾bi is already thinking about making the
axe a bit easier to spot in later builds. “I watch
other people play in front of me as much as
possible to see where they’re having issues,ȋ
6tr¾bi says. Ȋ)or example, most players miss the
first weapon placed on the first branch, so we
have to consider making it more obvious rather
than mysterious.ȋAxe placement aside, there are plenty of
other mysteries left to uncover. As the game
starts, its young hero Taro encounters a white
fox, who’s blindfolded and, thanks to some
unknown curse, chained to an empty rice wine
barrel. 'etermined to find his missing friends,
Taro agrees to carry the barrel for the fox, and
sets off on his side-
scrolling adventure.
ȊThe origins and
intentions of just who
and what the fox is
isn’t known to the
player at the start of
the game,ȋ 6tr¾bi says. Ȋ6ince the fox needs
Taro to carry the barrel, there’s a Ȇwho’s-helping-
who’ element that might make players question
the fox’s motives.ȋ
6o begins a free-roaming 0etroidvania,
where you explore the landscape in search
of energy-reviving fruit and items you can use
to progress. As you’ve probably gathered by
now, Taru Taro Legends is steeped in Japanese
culture, from the folklore that runs through its
story and characters to the arcade games that
inspire its action: Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Metal
Slug, and Sonic the Hedgehog are all cited as
influences. The small team behind Taru Taro are,
however, properly global 6tr¾bi once lived inA
We chat to the trio of international developers behind a
browser-based platformer steeped in Japanese lore“Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi,
Metal Slug, and Sonic the
Hedgehog are all cited
aX inĆZJnHJXë You agree to help the
enigmatic fox, but can
he really be trusted?Interface
Interactive Characters are drawn with
pencil and paper before
theʰԇre trƃceǁ ƃnǁ refineǁ
in Illustrator.