The subject of today’s review is a hummingbird shooter. If that didn’t kill all interest you had in this game then here’s the final nail in the coffin; it’s for the Sega 32X. You do have to hand it to Sega for trying to push less violent video games like this and Ecco the Dolphin in an age of Mortal Kombat and Doom, but was a game centered around a hummingbird battling insects and aliens really necessary? Furthermore, why put the kind of resources this game required into a 32X exclusive that has never been ported anywhere else? There are so many questions, but the big one is whether or not Kolibri is still worth playing in this day and age. Today I’m here to take a look at it.<
Kolibri starts out with you playing as an outcast hummingbird. When you try to approach the flowers that your peers are feeding on they push you away. Upon finding a lone flower away from the rest of the pack the bird’s mealtime is interrupted as a meteor crashes to the Earth, and our avian hero is granted special flowers by a magical crystal. He can now shoot beams of energy from his beak, and he will need to do so to defeat the alien infestation in the nearby wilds. It sounds unusual and it is, but thankfully there isn’t a lot of story exposition here as Kolibri throws you into the action immediately. The game is a side view shooter where you can pick up and use a multitude of different weapon types but only equip one at a time. These all have different advantages and none of them are completely useless. It’s all a matter of preferred play style and the options are nice.
 |
| Yep, this is a hummingbird game all right. |
Besides the general scenario there are a few other areas of Kolibri that are strikingly original. First of all there are several different types of levels in this game. In the beginning the stages are free roaming and you’re simply tasked with defeating all of the present enemies before moving to the next area. You can freely explore these levels and though they aren’t very big there’s a definite sense of freedom especially with the outdoor natural ambiance. Later stages force scrolling which makes for a more traditional shooter experience, and it’s a nice change that the game becomes more focused in areas. Finally you have large underground areas that are basically free roaming labyrinths. These segments feature very light puzzles and can be slightly confusing at times. These are not very fun to be honest. Kolibri would have benefited from being a tighter experience.
The weaponry offers a fair amount of variety, but compared to a more traditional shooter it’s pretty limited. You have your typical straight forward blobs of energy and several similar shot types, but there’s also homing lasers, multishots, etc. Generally you’re going to want to stick with the laser because it makes everything else pretty useless. What’s interesting about this game is the fact that the theme of nature comes through in the enemy types. Your primary enemies are insects which feature a lot of distinct attack and movement patterns. You’ll also have to deal with snakes, lizards, etc. I actually found some of this disturbing. Specifically the bull frogs and chameleons that kill you instantly by eating your hummingbird whole. It’s surprisingly ominous and adds a lot of tension to the game.
Unfortunately there are several bland stages in this game. The outdoor forest areas are brilliantly drawn, colorful, and really make you feel like you’re a part of nature just trying to survive. These moments are the best. Unfortunately the developers didn’t realize this and decided to make most of the game take place underground or in caverns. It makes little sense in the context of the setting and story, and seems like a lame excuse to re-use assets in a less obvious manner. In addition there’s an uneven difficulty curve here. The first few stages are extremely easy, but then suddenly you have enemies coming at you from all directions shooting a myriad of projectiles at your poor little hummingbird. Following these moments are a lot of mostly empty underground caverns. It just feels like poor pacing to me, and there should be a much more gradual build-up that maintains itself.
 |
| That toad will soon prove to be your worst nightmare. |
Kolibri could easily be mistaken for a plain jane Sega Genesis game in screenshots. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a poor poster boy for the ill fated supposedly 32-bit add-on for which it was released. The outdoor backgrounds are really well designed with moving elements and a sort of watercolor feel to everything. The sprite work is pretty great, and the world certainly feels lived in. The enemies are generally pretty bland looking with realistic enemy designs, but that’s what the game was going for. Kolibri succeeds with its natural art style, but as I mentioned earlier the cave and underground stages look far too plain. What’s interesting is the fact that Kolibri lacks a HUD. This is obviously on purpose to enhance the natural aesthetic, and I found it to be pretty effective. The music actually fares quite a bit better than I expected. There’s a lot of natural sounding music which fits the ambiance perfectly. The deep bass on the drums is a big highlight.
All in all Kolibri is a slightly less than average shooter. It does best when it’s focused and linear, but the majority of the game is the opposite of this. The all natural theme is somewhat unique for the genre, but I personally guarantee that this is the only video game wherein you play as a hummingbird. It’s a mediocre shooter with more lows than highs. It’s interesting thematically, but that’s not enough to save this bore fest. Kolibri’s worst offense however is being locked behind the train wreck that is the 32X; I can’t imagine anyone picked up that awful hardware add-on just to play a game where you play as a hummingbird battling against insects and aliens.
