Gameplay
Tak and the Power of Juju is a platformer game in which the player controls Tak, who can jump, attack, and interact with animals to overcome obstacles. The player's health is represented by the feather on Tak's head and, along with mana, can be restored by collecting feathers found throughout the environment. After obtaining the Spirit Rattle, he gains access to "Juju Powers", which are acquired by collecting tokens scattered around the environment.
Plot
According to an ancient prophecy, the Moon Juju, the guardian of the Pupanunu people, will be weakened by the evil Tlaloc, an embittered Pupanunu shaman who seeks to transform the Pupanunu into sheep as revenge for not being made high shaman in favor of another shaman, Jibolba. However, a warrior trained by the high shaman will restore the Moon Juju, defeat Tlaloc, and bring peace to the Pupanunu.
In the present, Tlaloc transforms the Pupanunu into sheep and steals the Moon Stones, which the Moon Juju uses to protect them from evil. Jibolba escapes Tlaloc's spell and believes his apprentice Lok to be the warrior of the prophecy. However, as he prepares to send him off, he discovers that he has seemingly been transformed into a sheep. Jibolba sends his younger apprentice, Tak (voiced by Jason Marsden), to find magical plants and change him back, though it turns out not to be Lok, but his squire Tobar. Jibolba tells Tak to obtain the Spirit Rattle, which allows its wielder to communicate with Juju spirits, while he finds Lok.
Upon returning with the Rattle, Tak discovers that Lok has been trampled to death by a herd of sheep. Jibolba has Tak collect one hundred magic Yorbels and Lok's spirit from the spirit world, allowing him to resurrect Lok. However, since Lok suffers from diarrhea (or the "Resurrection's Revenge" as Jibolba calls it) as a side effect of the resurrection, Tak obtains the Moon Stones while he recovers, restoring the Moon Juju's power. The Moon Juju reveals that the warrior of the prophecy is not Lok, but Tak. Using his Juju spells, Tak defeats Tlaloc and transforms him into a sheep, fulfilling the prophecy.
Development
Tak and the Power of Juju was created by John Blackburn, [4] the CEO of Avalanche Software, who first conceived the idea in 1995 before pitching it to THQ and Nickelodeon in 1998. [4] [1] The game was meant to be an organic platformer taking place in a natural world that lacked typical video game conventions. It was also to have complex puzzles and obstacles and not take itself too seriously, at a time when other games held the player's hand with obvious puzzles. [4] Blackburn listed Jak and Daxter , Ratchet & Clank , and Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus as influences on the game, and looked to Super Mario 64 , Yoshi's Island , and The Lost Vikings as examples for its design. The game's focus on humor was inspired by Looney Tunes , and was done to make the characters more easily likable and to broaden the game's appeal to all ages. [1] [4] As Nickelodeon lacked experience in making video games, they gave Avalanche Software a great deal of creative control, and assisted with character and story development as well as connecting the developer with voice actors and scriptwriters. Tak was developed for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance under Nickelodeon and published by THQ, which was unprecedented at the time due to it being original and not based on an existing show or film. [1]
The game had a marketing budget of $8.7 million. [5]
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