Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara Reviews

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is ranked in the 60th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Aug 6, 2023

Kao and the Five Pirates of Mara is a stunning looking, decent platformer with heart, charm and fun to be had. Unfortunately it all feels quite simplistic, stutters and stammers, controls awkwardly, and frankly, other games have just done it all so much better.

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3 / 5.0
Aug 7, 2023

Koa and The Five Pirates of Mara is an adorable game that is trying its hardest to pay homage to the old mascot platformers of the past, but sadly doesn’t get there and instead lands flat on its face. The game is definitely not for the hardcore platformer fan but is instead a great game to give to their younger sibling so that they can get a taste of the genre or develop a rage-quitting habit.

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6 / 10.0
Aug 1, 2023

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is, sadly, just another bog standard 3D platformer that does very little to stand out from the deluge of platformers available on the Switch. Not featuring the same gameplay loop as its predecessor makes it a hard sell for fans of Summer in Mara, and being so canonically tied to a farming simulator also makes it a hard sell for platformer enthusiasts looking for another hidden gem on the Nintendo Switch. Add in average-at-best visuals, music and level design, and what you get as a result is just a very middle-of-the-road game that fails to appeal to anyone.

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6 / 10.0
Jul 25, 2023

Though its ceiling is apparently early on, Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is an enjoyable speedrun game, just make sure to change up the default controls!

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Jul 25, 2023

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is designed to be playable by all ages, and suits different play styles. Whether you’re a speed runner who wants to set record times or an explorer who prefers to visit every corner of the map, Koa has you covered. There’s enough gameplay to keep things interesting, and the developers have left it open to DLC or expansion in the future.

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6 / 10.0
Jul 24, 2023

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a decent, albeit very basic platformer that does enough to be mildly entertaining, but not enough to have a lasting presence.

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7 / 10.0
Jul 24, 2023

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara succeeds in its stated goals: to offer a relaxing platforming experience within the reach of all abilities, from toddlers to speedrun lovers. Despite this, it is good to be aware of the production's limitations: the level design is rather ordinary, the camera suffers from worrying lapses, and the overall difficulty is calibrated downward. With this full awareness of merits and limitations, Koa and Napopo's pirate adventure can be a nice pastime on hot summer days.

Review in Italian | Read full review

7 / 10
Aug 21, 2023

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is an action-adventure game that follows a different concept from its predecessor and does a very good job at creating a fun and accessible experience to both newcomers and more seasoned players alike. While the difficulty curve can sometimes feel unbalanced, Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara brings an exciting sense of exploration and the game's competition dynamic between pirates helps with making it a captivating adventure that gained its place in the Nintendo Switch.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

GameGrin
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Aug 22, 2023

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a very enjoyable speedrun-focused platformer with plenty of collectibles and genre clichés. It isn't revolutionary to platformers, and it runs very short, but if you don't mind the price tag, it's well worth a try.

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7 / 10
Aug 9, 2023

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara isn’t exactly a bold reinvention of the 3D platformer, but it repeatedly proves that it’s got it where it counts. Smooth controls, decent level variety, and lots of collectibles all make this one a fairly easy recommendation, even if it is a little simplistic looking. If you're after 7-10 hours of solid, colourful 3D platforming, we’d suggest giving this one a shot.

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75 / 100
Aug 8, 2023

The best elements of Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara come from its decent play time, amount of content, and attention to movement options. The game isn’t super long but offers a good amount for what the game is. To add to that, there are different goals with collectibles and goal times for each stage. Then having the option to blaze through stages with the roll jump or take things more casually with the standard run allows for different play styles for different scenarios.

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7.5 / 10.0
Jul 25, 2023

The entire identity of Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is in the charisma emanating from the art and characters that make Mara an archipelago endowed with a community personality, where everyone knows everyone else. It's a lovely piece of work, very well done, with the potential to win the sympathy of anyone who lets himself be carried away by the unpretentious adventure. The gameplay is also light, but in an ambivalent tone; even if the set satisfies as a 3D platformer and is accessible to little ones, the ideas cling to a superficiality that doesn't sail with the same captivating quality as Koa and his pirate friends.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

7.5 / 10.0
Aug 11, 2023

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a platformer straight out of the PlayStation 2 era and whether that is a good or bad thing is up to you to decide. While the gameplay and visuals are pretty basic, I enjoyed running and jumping through these levels for the few hours that they lasted.

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7.5 / 10.0
Jul 24, 2023

Leaving the door open for future Mara adventures, I think that these characters really lend themselves to different genres and experiences. Even if I didn't pick up on many of the callbacks to Summer in Mara, I could tell that the developers really like these characters and this world they've created. Perhaps it's time to explore the RTS or RPG genre in Mara?.

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77 / 100
Jul 24, 2023

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is an opportunity to revisit the world of Summer in Mara but now as a 3D platform game very "nintendero" and without many innovations, but varied and entertaining and with a control system, already seen in Mail Mole, designed with speedruns in mind. You will enjoy them more if you played Summer in Mara.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

78 / 100
Jul 24, 2023

Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a carefree and wholesome platformer with lots of sights to see, shiny things to collect and optional speed runs to challenge yourself. It’s a balanced platformer that’s sure to scratch that collecting itch, wrapped in a neat island adventure package.

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8 / 10.0
Jul 26, 2023

The game is full of personality, energy and fun. This platform title takes very good references and shows again the development potential that exists in Spain.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8 / 10
Jul 24, 2023

"Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara" proudly carries the torch lit by its predecessors, while offering a fresh, simplistic spin on the platforming formula.

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Jul 26, 2023

As a spin-off of a highly underrated game, Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is a lovely 3D platformer that's full of charm and heart.

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8 / 10.0
Jul 24, 2023

Colorful and fun old-school-infused 3D platformer

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