Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia review – A bold and bright platforming game for fans of the classics

If you frequently find yourself reminiscing about platforming games from years gone by – think Donkey Kong Country, Crash Bandicoot, even Pandemonium – then you might want to ensure Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia is on your radar. A follow-up to 2021’s Marsupilami – Hoobadventure, this platforming game is just as much of a mouthful to say, but equally enjoyable to play.

You might have heard of Marsupilami if you’ve spent significant time in mainland Europe. This French-Belgian long-tailed marsupial has been around since the 1950s, appearing in comic books, cartoons and even a movie – but you’ll be forgiven if you’ve never heard of it outside of this video game adaptation. I certainly hadn’t, but the gorgeous art style and fun-loving gameplay has been enough to sell me on the franchise.

You don’t need to have played Hoobadventure to enjoy Salsa Palombia either. It’s very much accessible as a standalone platforming adventure, and while there is a story, you can choose to ignore it to simply focus on the action without really losing much of the experience. Like most platforming games, Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia eases you in with a few pretty easy levels to begin with, but it doesn’t take long for things to pick up. It’s never overly difficult – not to Crash Bandicoot 4 levels, anyway – but you will need to be precise and co-ordinated, particularly in later levels.

This isn’t a game you can simply run through to the end of each level and consider it done, either. Your progress in Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia is gated by musical notes you can pick up in each level. More than a mere collectible, these allow you to access level bosses and move onto later worlds, so if you haven’t collected enough you’ll need to go back and replay levels. It’s a bit frustrating, especially when some of them are genuinely tricky to find or reach, but it at least ensures you’re interacting with every level to its fullest.

To help you collect those musical notes, defeat enemies, uncover hidden secrets and pick up other collectibles, you have a range of abilities at your disposal. You can jump, wall jump, pound the ground and dash – and you even have multiple Marsupilamis to choose between, each with their own special ability. One can glide through the air, while another can turn into a large bouncy ball, making them impervious to certain dangers such as spike pits.

Keeping track of all the different abilities – and which of your Marsupilamis has which abilities – can be a little overwhelming, however, and it’s totally possible you could be stood trying to figure out how to reach a particular music note having completely forgotten one of your character’s core abilities. That’s my main complaint; while it’s nice to have a large repertoire of abilities, there are perhaps a few too many here, and it doesn’t add anything to the experience.

Is it enough to completely turn me off Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia, though? Not at all. Sure, I might prefer to have just one character with a solid repertoire of abilities, but having a few too many doesn’t ruin things. You’ve still got a solid platforming experience here, with levels that are beautifully designed, varied and just the right amount of challenging. This is the sort of game that kids can play, but adults will enjoy too – perhaps even more so thanks to the old-school vibes it gives off. I can’t help but be reminded by Donkey Kong Country, and that can only be a good thing.