Tembo the Badass Elephant

(Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Windows)

TEMBO the Badass Elephant.

Yes, it is as ludicrous as it sounds but this colourful, cartoonish game is a brilliant nod to the 16-bit era of Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive.

Modern games mostly feature huge worlds and high definition graphics in 3D.

But Tembo harks back to the early days of the 90s when platform games ruled and their stories rarely made much sense.

And when you are playing as a bandana-wearing Rambo-inspired commando...who happens to be an elephant – that is certainly the case here.

The limited plot is that Tembo is called upon as the best hope to stop the invasion of a military force called 'the Phantom'.

That gives you all the excuse you need to stampede, stomp and barrel-roll through troops, tanks and helicopters.

Created by Japanese Pokémon developer Game Freak, Tembo borrows platforming elements from some of Nintendo's flagship series.

So you have the likes of Mario's ground pound, Yoshi's flutter jump and spinning devices reminiscent of the gameplay in Donkey Kong Country, with the added benefit of being able to charge at high speed.

The downside is that the controls are twitchy, meaning you occasionally go flying off in a direction you didn't intend.

Another of Tembo's main draws is the graphics. The game has a vivid, cell-shaded style which might remind you of Capcom's Viewtiful Joe series.

It also pays tribute to the art style of comic books with words like 'boom' and 'wham' wafting into the air like an episode of Adam West's 1960s Batman.

This nostalgia trip is only hampered by a harsh difficulty curve and system where you need to gather enough points to proceed to the next level, alienating less experienced players.

RATING 7/10

DAVID MORGAN