We tend to think that platformers are at their best when they're forgiving in the beginning but tougher than our Nan's steaks by the finale. New Super Lucky's Tale never progresses to the point where it poses any significant challenge, but it makes up for it with bags of charm and a campaign that's short enough to never wear out its welcome.

The game is broken up into hub worlds that you can wander around either looking for secrets or to find a portal to one of the self-contained levels that make up the meat of the game. These levels come in different flavours: there's classic 2D platforming, endless runners, puzzles, and open 3D areas for you to explore, collect coins, and hit things with your tail - settle down, this is a children's game.

Anyway, we're by no means the World Heavyweight Champions of platform games and we barely died or were left scratching our heads, but just taking part was an entirely pleasant experience that we really quite enjoyed. There are occasional moments of wonder and inspiration here, some smartly designed levels, and a scene involving farmer worms having a hoedown that will likely crack even the stoniest of faces into a grin.

New Super Lucky's Tale is the sort of game that gives you a nostalgic feeling even though you've never played it before. It's like a Sunday afternoon movie, the kind that provides enough smiles and action to entertain but won't ever require you to engage your brain in a manner that would ruin your lazy weekend. It's a delightful, jolly, collectathon platformer, and if it keeps your kids off Fortnite for a day or two then you can't say fairer than that.

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New Super Lucky's Tale (PS4)
New Super Lucky's Tale (PS4)

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