By Linnie W. Phillips 
We’ve said it before, but the humble platformer comes in many shapes and sizes. It is also the domain of the adorable mascots who have helped shape the gaming landscape from further away than some of them remember. We all know Crash, Mario and Sonic; but how many of you remember Dizzy or Zool, or dare I say Bubsy? Then we almost, but not quite, thought all the characters for IPS, which, unfortunately, never made it. I know you’re wondering what all this has to do with anything, but I’m not digressing as usual. I’m going to introduce you to a new friend today. His name is Tad and he is a kind of explorer. Unfortunately, he is not very good.
We return to the time of colorful characters and silly stories Tad the Lost Explorer. I don’t mean silly as written in bad by the way, I really enjoy my time with this game. It’s the kind of awkwardness that reminds us that we take what we do far too seriously most of the time and that sometimes it’s just nice to relax. In this particular matter, we will make it fashionable in a real side-scrolling, a platform. I have flashbacks from the 90s (with much better graphics, of course) and I love it! Little remark, Tad is a character from a movie that I didn’t see and didn’t know about. That being said, I played this as a completely separate unit from the movie and I’m not going to make any comparisons here.
We will take the title researcher to a number of different crypts, ruins, a somewhat peril university and other funny places. Tad is desperately trying to make a name for himself by finding something really wonderful hidden and waiting to make his career for him. The problem is that these secret places are full of traps and harmful beasts that would love nothing more than to eat them. Although it can come out without being impaled, roasted, surprised, poisoned or digested by one of the many hungry creatures, darker forces play a role.
Since Tad is somewhat gullible and not very smart, he will have to rely on his team if he wants to stay away from some rather unpleasant situations. One of these teammates happens to be his long-suffering girlfriend Sara. She is fully aware that TAD’s heart is in the right place, but at the same time, he is really not suitable for most of the problems he keeps getting into. That being said, his top priority is to keep the unfortunate explorer alive with every treasure he finds in a pleasantly unexpected second. He is also a playable character, if history allows. In fact, they have other characters with whom you need to get acquainted over time. I will let you meet by yourself, but let’s avoid spoilers if possible.
Graphically, a bit of the Lost Explorer brings me back to the many happy hours I spent getting executed in Crash bandicoot’s shoes (the first time – not a reboot for me), and I mean that as a serious compliment. While there’s the frustration of knowing that passed away is really a problem that you’re facing literally all the time, there’s a warm comfort that comes with games like this that makes you keep asking for more. Something that definitely helps is the fact that you can’t die. Instead of being unceremoniously launched on a game screen every five minutes or being forced to load a memory state, they are simply dumped before they get dirty and give themselves the opportunity to start all over again. Admittedly, this makes the game a little easier, but in this particular matter I’m not complaining. I’m having fun and I think that’s the most important thing.
I wouldn’t call Tad the Lost Explorer a challenging game, and I have a feeling that it was probably designed for a slightly younger audience. That being said, I think this is a pretty smart decision by the team, to be honest. For example, if I had taken the younger me, I would have been very pleased with a colorful, funny and engaging story.with bright graphics and controls that didn’t feel like they were mapped for a rocket scientist. That being said, I had to take off my mature hat and try to remember what it looked like. It actually feels pretty good. We are so used to incredibly difficult platform games that we are so jaded and desensitized that everything that is not Super Meat Boy or harder is literally for kids. Not everything has to be an almost impossible task and new players have to start somewhere. I was pretty happy to go from place to place, grab collectibles and finish things with rubber chickens. You also don’t have to worry about enemies reappearing, something I had forgotten was even a thing. The things you finish stay dead. Imagine that!