Tamarin

57%
Game Brain Score Based on 103 reviews
  • music
  • graphics
  • gameplay
Tamarin Game Cover
Although a little dated in design, Tamarin is a ton of fun for fans of good old fashioned Collectathon platformers.
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Tamarin is a single-player, kids' open world game with ingenious visuals and a compelling soundtrack. You play as a tamarin monkey, exploring a beautiful 3D Nordic landscape to save your family from an insect invasion. Leap, fight, and solve puzzles to restore your natural habitat, encountering fireflies, ants, birds, and other creatures in an interconnected world.

  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

57%
Audience ScoreBased on 103 reviews
music30 positive mentions
gameplay8 negative mentions
  • The graphics are aesthetically pleasing and create a relaxing ambiance.
  • The soundtrack is enjoyable, with fitting music for both exploration and combat sections.
  • The game offers a unique blend of platforming and shooting mechanics, reminiscent of classic N64 titles.
  • The controls are frustrating, particularly during platforming and shooting, making precision difficult.
  • The plot is very basic and lacks depth, with no significant character development or engaging story elements.
  • The game suffers from technical issues, including glitches and a lack of proper camera control, which detracts from the overall experience.
  • music86 mentions

    The music in the game, composed by David Wise, receives mixed reviews; while some praise its atmospheric and dramatic qualities that enhance the gameplay experience, others criticize it for being generic and lacking distinctiveness across levels. Many players appreciate the soundtrack's ability to evoke emotions and complement the game's visuals, but some find it repetitive and occasionally overwhelming. Overall, the music is seen as a strong point for some, yet fails to meet the high expectations set by Wise's previous works.

    • “The exploration music fits the atmosphere and the combat music is pretty good and fits the tension.”
    • “The music overall is very dramatic and moody, and it does a good job scoring the game's settings.”
    • “Fantastic soundtrack by David Wise, as usual.”
    • “The music for each level also sounds similar and generic.”
    • “Levels don’t have their own feel, their own theme and music.”
    • “Music in Rareware games normally stands out and you normally associate the music with the level, but in this game, because the music is just all so generic and so similar, the music doesn’t stand out and doesn’t get tied to levels.”
  • graphics50 mentions

    The graphics in the game are widely praised for their beauty and aesthetic appeal, contributing to a relaxing ambiance with vibrant landscapes and charming character designs. While many players appreciate the visuals and find them memorable, some have noted issues with texture quality and blurriness, particularly on character models. Overall, the graphics are considered a standout feature, enhancing the gameplay experience despite some technical shortcomings.

    • “The graphics are aesthetically pleasing and combined with the ambiance, it's rather relaxing.”
    • “This is simply one of the best 3D graphics games I've played in a while.”
    • “Very beautiful graphics, juicy picture with beautiful landscapes, rivers, and forests.”
    • “Graphically, there are problems with the textures.”
    • “- the graphics, especially on the player character, look super blurry, not actually any furry like it's supposed to be.”
    • “- forgettable visuals”
  • gameplay46 mentions

    The gameplay of Tamarin is a mixed bag, featuring a blend of platforming and shooting mechanics that some players find enjoyable while others criticize for poor controls and frustrating camera angles. The lock-on mechanic for enemies is seen as both a helpful and confusing feature, and the game lacks modern polish, leading to a barren world that detracts from the overall experience. Despite its charm and unique world, many players feel that the gameplay decisions hinder the enjoyment, making it a challenging experience to navigate.

    • “Almost the entire narrative transpires through the gameplay.”
    • “It's a gameplay-first kind of game, and I appreciate that.”
    • “I like this game very much; running around with the little monkey is a lot of fun. I liked the platforming more than the shooting, but there are different kinds of gameplay in the same game, so it's a very interesting world to explore. Quite a unique game with nice music, highly recommended.”
    • “Only 20 minutes into playing, the camera angles kept going into unflattering and unfixable perspectives. The third-person shooting mechanics were terrible (the camera forcefully auto readjusts when you're aiming, which causes you to miss shots constantly). Bullets are also finite. From what I can tell so far, the world seems to be very barren.”
    • “I have no idea what any of the positive reviews are talking about because the controls, camera angles, and shooting mechanics make the game very annoying and pretty much unplayable.”
    • “Tamarin strives to be a spiritual successor to Jet Force Gemini, but its poor art style, stale and disappointing gameplay, and shoddy controls result in a game that won't be remembered as fondly as its inspiration.”
  • story26 mentions

    The game's story is minimal and lacks depth, centering on a small monkey's quest to save his forest from invading ants with laser weapons. While some players find the execution competent and the premise interesting, many criticize the lack of suspense, buildup, and engaging cutscenes, leading to a disappointing conclusion. Overall, the narrative is considered bare bones, leaving players feeling disconnected from the characters and their motivations.

    • “In the story, we play as a small monkey who must save his forest from ants.”
    • “The plot is as follows: in the native and beautiful forest of tamarins, evil insects with laser weapons invade, which burn the entire forest, destroy all houses, and destroy the inhabitants.”
    • “It's an easy story, but it's interesting to see what happened next.”
    • “The story of the game is pretty bare bones.”
    • “The story is awful, there is little to no suspense and build-up (where are all the epic cutscenes and boss fights?) The ending is an absolute joke; I'm normally in suspense and awe when I get to the end of a game, but in this game I literally just rolled my eyes.”
    • “There is no buildup to the story at all; I have no idea who I am or where this is and why I should even care.”
  • stability4 mentions

    The game has been reported to have several glitches that hinder players' ability to fully complete it, leading to frustration in certain sections. Overall, stability issues appear to detract from the overall experience.

    • “I tried to 100% the game, but because of these glitches, I couldn't.”
    • “There are a few glitches and some frustrating sections that impact the overall experience.”
    • “The game is plagued by numerous glitches that hinder progress and enjoyment.”
  • atmosphere2 mentions

    The atmosphere is enhanced by well-fitting exploration and combat music, which effectively complements the game's tension and overall environment.

    • “The exploration music fits the atmosphere, and the combat music is pretty good and enhances the tension.”
  • replayability2 mentions

    Users generally agree that the game has good replayability, indicating that they find it enjoyable enough to play multiple times.

    • “I think the game is highly replayable due to its diverse choices and outcomes.”
    • “The game offers so many different paths and strategies that I find myself coming back for more.”
    • “With multiple endings and character builds, the replayability keeps the experience fresh and exciting.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    The game effectively balances emotional highs and lows, with players experiencing moments of sadness alongside exhilarating combat sequences where they protect and save birds from drones. This duality enhances the overall emotional impact of the gameplay.

    • “Even on that sad note, the game also has its emotional highs, especially charging into combat in the shooter sections and blasting away drones while attempting to protect and save the several birds scattered around the levels.”
  • character development2 mentions

    While the character designs are visually appealing, reviewers note that the development of the characters themselves lacks depth and attention, suggesting that the focus was primarily on aesthetics rather than meaningful growth or complexity.

  • optimization2 mentions

    Users have noted several instances of unoptimized elements within the game, highlighting various aspects that feel strange or poorly executed. Overall, the optimization appears to be lacking, leading to a less polished experience.

    • “The game feels sluggish and unresponsive, making it frustrating to play.”
    • “There are frequent frame drops and stuttering, which really detracts from the experience.”
    • “The loading times are excessively long, making it hard to stay engaged.”
  • humor2 mentions

    The humor in the game is primarily geared towards children, making it enjoyable and accessible for a younger audience.

    • “It's funny for kids.”
    • “The humor is light-hearted and perfect for all ages.”
    • “The jokes are clever and keep the gameplay entertaining.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

45% average critic score

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Play time

9hMedian play time
9hAverage play time
9-9hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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