Did the bugs give it away?
Fans of Rare’s Nintendo 64 shooter Jet Force Gemini and David Wise’s soothing atmospheric music have a hopeful upcoming game to watch. Jot down the name Tamarin – it’s an action-adventure title about a monkey fending off oversized insect invaders in a Nordic-influenced interconnected platformer world.
“A lot of species are going extinct and their natural habitat is being lost and I’ve always wished to make a game series inspired by the most wonderful species and scenery on Earth,” Chameleon Games founder Omar Sawi said in a press statement. “Tamarin combines cute characters, beautiful locations, a catchy soundtrack and a combination of fun exploratory platforming and action shooter gameplay into something that appeals to a wide multi-gender demographic.”
Tamarin is touting involvement from former Rare employees including Donkey Kong 64 artist Richard Vaucher and composer Graeme Norgate, who contributed to beloved titles like Killer Instinct and GoldenEye 007. You can get a slight sense of that pedigree in this first footage. That said, it took a whole lot of remarkable people coming together to produce Rare’s greatest hits. Tamarin‘s heart seems to be in the right place – and there’s an audience for it – but our expectations should be set accordingly.
Jet Force Gemini and I never really got along, so I’m mostly here for the fresh David Wise tracks which, based on this trailer, should be haunting, beautiful, and evocative, as you would expect. I may have also spent way too much time looking up countless pictures of real-world tamarins when I should’ve been concentrating on this article. Their whole hair situation is fascinating. What’s their morning routine?
If you’re feeling Tamarin or even just appreciate what it’s striving to pull off, stay on the lookout this summer. The game is confirmed for PC and PS4 (no word on Switch!) with a $29.99 asking price.
