One of my greatest joys when searching through the droves of games in the Xbox indie game marketplace is when I come across a game that’s genuinely original.  With many game developers focusing mostly on safe sequels, or occasionally new IPs that play very similarly to other safe sequels, finding a game that has something completely new to offer is rare.  So imagine my excitement when I first loaded up Coral’s Curse and found a control scheme completely unlike any I’ve seen before.  But is Coral’s Curse a welcome innovation, or just an A for effort?

GAMEPLAY

The first thing that you’ll notice when playing is that Coral isn’t your typical videogame heroine.  For starters, she doesn’t have any legs.  Instead, where her limbs should have been is a large, scaly tail.  This half-snake body feels unwieldy at first, as you squirm unevenly controlling both the head and tail separately.  Her upper body moves with the left analog stick, while the right analog stick controls the tip of her tail.  If this sounds cumbersome, that’s because it is for the first few awkward minutes.  But imagine for a moment that your legs had been replaced with a tail, surely there would be an adjustment period involved.

And sure enough, within ten minutes of picking up the controller slithering around felt quite natural.  And with that natural feeling came a whole new way of thinking about the game’s environment.  Coral’s Curse is laid out similar to games in the Metroidvania vein, with the world consisting of one enormous level with interconnected areas you gain access to along the way.  There is an intuitive map on the pause menu that fills in as you explore new areas, as well as showing a waypoint for the next key or amulet you need to find.  But just because you’re shown where to go doesn’t mean that getting there is easy.  The puzzles themselves aren’t anything new for genre veterans, but the ways you go about solving them have been given a fresh feeling because of the controls.  Instead of jumping to reach higher platforms I found myself balancing on the tip of my tail or wrapping my tail around ledges.  Instead of pushing a block onto a pressure switch I had to curl my tail around a ball to carry it.  These aren’t abilities that you unlock either, but rather techniques you discover naturally through experimentation while playing.  It’s an organic feeling of progression and discovery that gave me a huge feeling of accomplishment when playing.

It’s not all exploration and discovery though, as you will come across many enemies in the tunnels and cliffs Coral explores.  You can fend off these enemies with fire and ice projectiles, with most enemies color-coded to indicate which will be more effective against them.  Some enemies need to be frozen first, then shot with a fireball, but for the most part they all go down in one hit.  It’s good that they don’t take much to kill, because with both analog sticks used for movement there are some sacrifices made in the aiming controls.  Aiming, like moving Coral’s torso, is done with the left stick.  This usually means that trying to shoot down a flying enemy looks like she’s having a seizure.  You can hold the A button to relax Coral’s body, which prevents her from moving around while aiming, but it also means you can’t dodge an enemy’s attacks.  For those that can master using the tail, it can also use it as a shield of sorts since it doesn’t take damage from projectiles.  It’s not an invincible tail though, so ice attacks will still slow you down letting your tail touch lava is a sure way to drain your health.

STORY

The story of Coral’s Curse is told through a short narrative at the beginning of the game.  Coral was a skilled mage until one spell backfired, resulting in her half-snake curse.  It’s a fairly simple narrative, but it gets the job done in terms of explaining why you are playing as a girl with a tail instead of legs.  Once you’re in the game itself the only indication of a story is the passage of time through a day/night cycle.  It’s a subtle touch, but helps to add to the overall atmosphere of the game.

STYLE

Coral’s Curse is a great looking game.  The environments are rich with color and the way that the tail animates is simply mesmerizing.  There are a few odd hiccups where Coral’s animations seem strange, like trying to turn around in a tight tunnel, but for the most part the visual style is excellent.  The soundtrack isn’t particularly memorable.  It’s good ambient sound to have in the background, but it’s not something you’ll find yourself humming when away from the game.

OTHER

Coral’s Curse is the type of game that I would recommend playing the trial version before committing to a purchase.  Maybe even play the trial twice since the first time will be acclimating to the controls.  But those brave enough to take the plunge will find a highly original and satisfying twist on exploration-based gameplay that deserves to be played.  As someone who is always looking for originality and innovation in game design, Coral’s Curse is a welcome breath of fresh air.