Tembo the Badass Elephant

 PlayStation 4
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 58 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 58
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 58
  3. Negative: 9 out of 58

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  1. Crappy
    Jul 29, 2015
    8
    Forget Sonic, I think SEGA may have a new mascot on their hands, and that’s the badass ass kicking mammal, Tembo the Badass Elephant. For the first time in a number of years I’ve been reminded of the frustration found only in Sonic the Hedgehog titles from the Mega Drive era. It crams in that feeling with the joy of experiencing something new, and considering it’s made by the developers ofForget Sonic, I think SEGA may have a new mascot on their hands, and that’s the badass ass kicking mammal, Tembo the Badass Elephant. For the first time in a number of years I’ve been reminded of the frustration found only in Sonic the Hedgehog titles from the Mega Drive era. It crams in that feeling with the joy of experiencing something new, and considering it’s made by the developers of the Pokémon games, they’ve done a great job.

    Tembo the Badass Elephant is your typical fast-paced, lack of spacial awareness, hero who lets nobody stand in his way. He’s tasked with saving the world by smushing one goon at a time while also collecting trapped civilians. After around 10 minutes with the game I already felt at home with the controls, the way Tembo moved, and the overall concept of the game. To me it felt like a mixture of Sonic the Hedgehog mixed with Rayman.

    So, as Tembo, you’re sent through a series of stages each with its own unique styling in this fantastic looking 2.5D world. Each of these stages are set in Zones too, which also gives Sonic another swift kick out the door. Each level is filled with a series of traps, goons, crates of peanuts, and trapped civilians for you to rescue, and while the game is wholly linear, there are some aspects of freedom in terms of exploring corners of each level for hidden items.

    The replayability of past levels isn’t all that appealing either, as you’ve probably come across a part of the level which frustrated the hell out of you, and having to trawl back through that once more to tackle and area you might have missed, or to find a bad-guy you’d rather avoid, does become pretty tedious.

    Fortunately the game’s cartoonish charm does keep you coming back for more as the joy you get from smashing vehicles, boxes, and enemy contraptions is just too fun to give up. There are however points, especially after a couple of hours play, where the game starts to lose its lustre and fails to keep you hooked as you probably would with platformers like Mario or Rayman.

    Overall Tembo The Badass Elephant offers a pretty good challenger to the likes of Sonic and Rayman, but sadly fails to keep the charm found in your first hour or two of gameplay. It’s an absolutely fantastic platformer in its own right and it can be as fun as hell to play, but it can become a bit of a drag after a lengthy play-session.

    In short-sharp bursts the game can actually be a lot of fun, but it does quickly become one of those games you’ll open and play a few times, only to close it and glaze over it when looking for something to play.    … Expand
  2. MEFzelder
    Apr 28, 2016
    8
    Con espíritu de Indie y padrinos titánicos "Tembo the Badass Elephant" es un juego de la vieja escuela que deja un buen pasar por sus gráficos y su dificultad.
    El juego es un juego de aventura y plataformas 2D que recuerdan mucho a Sonic y Doneky Kong Country, en los niveles debes ir venciendo distintos enemigos además de rescatar personas secuestradas por la milicia enemiga.
    Es simple    Con espíritu de Indie y padrinos titánicos "Tembo the Badass Elephant" es un juego de la vieja escuela que deja un buen pasar por sus gráficos y su dificultad.
    El juego es un juego de aventura y plataformas 2D que recuerdan mucho a Sonic y Doneky Kong Country, en los niveles debes ir venciendo distintos enemigos además de rescatar personas secuestradas por la milicia enemiga.
    Es simple de explicar pero con una curva de dificultad bastante pronunciada de aprender por lo que puede resultar un poco injusto para los niños, donde tendrás que utilizar las distintas habilidades de Tembo y mucha estrategia para salir ileso del fuego frontal.
    Lo recomiendo totalmente, no es muy largo, pero al precio ofrecido esta correcto, si lo consigues en oferta mejor para ti.

    Lo bueno: Muy vistoso, controles precisos, buena curva de dificultad, excelentes jefes.
    Lo malo: Duración, banda sonora decepcionante para estudios como Game Freaks y Sega    … Expand
  3. Nobilis1984
    Jul 25, 2015
    7
    A small but nice game.
    In the game it's all about destruction. In places fun and creative but done very monotonous after a while. But not the full price value by reducing the price worth a buy.
  4. vrildox
    Jul 22, 2015
    9
    This is the best Sonic game in years. They put Sonic in a weird elephant costume but whatever works right? All jokes aside this game is as solid as you can get with a high-speed action platformer. The art is akin to the current CN line-up like Regular Show but playable. There's a collection mechanic that never gets old and picking up peanuts gives off extra lives. It's a game where theThis is the best Sonic game in years. They put Sonic in a weird elephant costume but whatever works right? All jokes aside this game is as solid as you can get with a high-speed action platformer. The art is akin to the current CN line-up like Regular Show but playable. There's a collection mechanic that never gets old and picking up peanuts gives off extra lives. It's a game where the pick-ups actually matter. I also love how picking up peanuts sounds insanely close to picking up bananas in DKC. That's the best way to describe this game. Donkey Kong Country meets Sonic the Hedgehog drawn by the creator of Regular Show. Must play for any fan of side-scrolling platformers.… Expand
  5. True_Reclaimer
    Aug 22, 2015
    0
    Theres no appeal to this game. Every level feels the same as the last, and is incredibly on-rails so theres no way to backtrack if you miss a single collectible, and definitely no choice, freedom, or exploration. If you like these types of games, play Sonic, Yoshi or Mario, but pass on this.
  6. drlowdon
    May 31, 2018
    6
    Tembo the Badass Elephant is a side scrolling platformer that reminded me very much of the old 2d Sonic games, albeit with a lot more destruction!

    The games cartoon style graphic look great and the gameplay itself, despite some slightly awkward controls, is generally good fun but the strange design decision of having to kill a set number of enemies before certain levels are unlocked    Tembo the Badass Elephant is a side scrolling platformer that reminded me very much of the old 2d Sonic games, albeit with a lot more destruction!

    The games cartoon style graphic look great and the gameplay itself, despite some slightly awkward controls, is generally good fun but the strange design decision of having to kill a set number of enemies before certain levels are unlocked (which often means repeating earlier levels numerous times) simply made everything feel like to much of a chore. For me this is a decent little game that is spoiled by one poor design decision....    … Expand
  7. Mr_Maldoror
    Aug 2, 2015
    6
    This throwback 2D platformer can be fun and inventive... in fits and starts. While the overall mechanics of charging through enemies and environments, acting as a one elephant wrecking crew are all solid, the game suffers from the most awkward difficulty curve I've seen in a long time. It's not even accurate to call it a curve, it's more like a difficulty zigzag. I never felt the gameThis throwback 2D platformer can be fun and inventive... in fits and starts. While the overall mechanics of charging through enemies and environments, acting as a one elephant wrecking crew are all solid, the game suffers from the most awkward difficulty curve I've seen in a long time. It's not even accurate to call it a curve, it's more like a difficulty zigzag. I never felt the game smoothly got more challenging as it progressed. Instead, it would be easy then abruptly become punishingly difficult. And the difficulty didn't even have the sense of logic or deliberateness of the types of platformers of the 8 and 16 bit era that it was paying homage to. Instead, it would just resort to cheap tactics such as a barrage of oddly placed enemies to obstruct your path, and boss fights which inundate you with a myriad of attacks coming your way, and poor hit detection. Towards the end, I found myself getting through out of obligation over actual enjoyment. By the time I finished, I never wanted to play it again.… Expand
  8. Goodnightmoon
    Jul 25, 2015
    8
    Tembo has a bit of Sonic, a bit of Yoshi and a bit of Donkey Kong and it actually works pretty well, the game is fast, the controls are as tight and responsive as a good Nintendo game, it feels right to play, the levels are well designed and the game is really challenging, and I mean REALLY challenging.

    Overall Tembo feels like a classic platformer in a good way, it mixes elements from    Tembo has a bit of Sonic, a bit of Yoshi and a bit of Donkey Kong and it actually works pretty well, the game is fast, the controls are as tight and responsive as a good Nintendo game, it feels right to play, the levels are well designed and the game is really challenging, and I mean REALLY challenging.

    Overall Tembo feels like a classic platformer in a good way, it mixes elements from great games of the genre to make a very enjoyable and addictive one, if you love 2D platformers you need to give it a chance.    … Expand
  9. Lousyburn
    Jul 22, 2015
    8
    É sim um jogo que eu aconselho você a comprar, se você é barbudo compre, tu voltará para a época de OURO dos games. Agora se você é mais novo, compre, e depois vá jogar um Sonic e um Mega Man X, porque? Porque eu to falando.
    Yes it is a game I advise you to buy, if you are bearded buy, you return to the GOLD time of the games. Now if you're younger, buy, and then go play a Sonic and Mega    É sim um jogo que eu aconselho você a comprar, se você é barbudo compre, tu voltará para a época de OURO dos games. Agora se você é mais novo, compre, e depois vá jogar um Sonic e um Mega Man X, porque? Porque eu to falando.
    Yes it is a game I advise you to buy, if you are bearded buy, you return to the GOLD time of the games. Now if you're younger, buy, and then go play a Sonic and Mega Man X, why? Because I'm talking about.    … Expand
  10. 64bit
    Jul 20, 2019
    6
    Playing as this little fella was fun at first but got stale half way through the game. The levels are mediocre at best and can be frustrating at times. Some levels look like they were put together by an 8 year old. The sound design is nice and has character but the official sound track did get annoying after a while of playing. Could've of been much better, definitely has potential butPlaying as this little fella was fun at first but got stale half way through the game. The levels are mediocre at best and can be frustrating at times. Some levels look like they were put together by an 8 year old. The sound design is nice and has character but the official sound track did get annoying after a while of playing. Could've of been much better, definitely has potential but this title isn't quite there.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Jan 4, 2016
    74
    Tembo needs more tempo: more breaking buildings, less watering flowers. [Dec 2015]
  2. SpazioGames
    Oct 28, 2015
    80
    Oh, what a cute little gem SEGA and Game Freak have created. Tembo is fun, fast and inspired. There's nothing truly original in the package, but it's still a great time waster with a low price tag.
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  3. games(TM)
    Oct 4, 2015
    60
    It does little to endear you to Tembo's later stages. [Issue#165, p.95]
    Read full review
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