Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara

Super casual and sweet little game.
Straightforward type of platform with easy levels and time trials, that will not cause you problems. The music is nice, good controls and the levels are creatively designed - Overall a very pleasant and chill game.
My only complaint is the price which is a bit high for the hours of gameplay you get, so I would recommend waiting for a nice discount.

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a chill 3D platformer for kids but offers enough tech for doing some fun speedrunning. Levels consists mostly of time attacks and the time for gold medals are very relaxed so they should be attainable for all kinds of players. 7/10. Chill fun game for all ages.
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"Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara" seems like a cutesy platformer set in a tropical archipelago, but unfortunately, that's just the first layer. After a very simple tutorial, you encounter the first real levels, and the difficulty level quickly ramps up. The times to complete stages are very demanding, and combined with the difficult, unintuitive controls and lack of clear indication of where Koa will land, the whole experience quickly becomes very frustrating.
There is a "Relaxed" mode, and it is much more enjoyable to play.
I recommend it, but only if you are not put off by a high level of difficulty. And when it's discounted.

Fun platformer, not hard but does have some levels that I thought were tricky so it's not easy 100% which I think is good. I think the controls worked well and plays great on the Steam Deck. If you like Mario, A Hat in Time, then you might like this one. For the price it's not bad and the collectibles are easy to obtain.

Here's what you do:
Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a level-based 3D platformer with a fixed camera. Of course there is running and jumping, but there is also a roll-jump that is performed by pressing the run button right after landing a jump. So any roll-jump needs to be planned ahead. Koa's island has been invaded by pirates, well kinda. These pirates did steal a bunch of stuff from the island that Koa needs to get back, but the pirates are generally friendly. Koa even helps to set one up on a date. In addition to the platforming levels, there is also the ocean area that acts like a hub world where you sail a boat around to different islands. The explorable area is restricted so that you have to beat levels to gain access to more levels. There is a coin currency found in both the levels and the ocean area that can be used to buy things in town like outfits.
What I like:
The movement is unique with the roll-jump that doesn't take too long to get used to. I don't even think the roll-jump is mandatory to use to beat the game, but it is great for speed-running. There is the mandatory goal of reaching the end of each level, but there is also one to three collectables hidden in each level. The game tells you upfront how many before starting each level. There is also a time trial challenge for each level to get gold, silver, or bronze.
Grabbing the collectables unlocks things in the town like outfits for Koa or upgrades for the boat. The game is also plenty long, taking me about 10 hours to do everything. It may be shorter if you skip the optional stuff.
What I don't like:
I think the vibes are a bit weird because there is the serious issue of the pirates stealing a bunch of stuff from the island, but they are also friends with Koa before and after she retrieves the stolen property?
Each level has the time trial challenge, which I like, but then there are also racing challenges against a particular pirate in just a handful of levels, which feels redundant and filler.
The game is a bit on the easy side without any end-game or post-game super challenges.
Conclusion:
I do recommend this game even though I found it a bit easy, it was still fun to find all the collectables and get a gold time on all the levels.
This game is good for beginners. The fixed camera means there is no difficulty surrounding managing the perspective, the camera won't get stuck on level geometry.
Here's my video demonstration:
More games like this:
Suzy Cube;
Super Mario 3D World

Cute and colourful platformer game. Reminds me of Super Mario 3D World but I never played it. Levels are short and simple but controls are sometimes a problem.
You see, since it's a game where you want to gain most momentum while running, you have to do long roll jumps (à la Super Mario 64) but the jump button is also the ground pound attack (which shares with RS button) and the roll action at the same time. So, I often end up killing my momentum or even plunging into the void.
Beside this point, I get a lot of A Hat in Time and Shantae vibes from the game. It's good and chill.

so much fun !
the game is pretty easy, even the medals and collectibles, so you'll have to set your own goals if you want a challenge
but not everything needs to be a challenge, sometimes just chilling is really important too
would recommend playing summer in mara (and stories of mara) first, but it's not needed
the characters are cute and the action is fun
could be a little longer, but i'm still clad i got the game