Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament

Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament is a video game developed and published by Namco and released on the Game Boy Advance in Japan on August 6, 2002 and North America on February 23, 2005. As the third game in the Klonoa handheld series, the game retains many of the gameplay elements of the previous titles, while adding in a few of its own. Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament takes place sometime after the events of Klonoa: Empire of Dreams and Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil. Several references to Dream Tournament are made in the webcomic.

Story
The game begins shortly after Klonoa defeats the King of Despair, and receives an invitation letter that floats from the sky telling him that he has been selected to compete in the prestigious "Dream Champ Tournament" among other accomplished adventurers for the title of "Greatest Hero" as well as a cash reward.

After Klonoa finishes reading, he is enveloped in a bright light and finds himself transported inside a gigantic arena alongside several other adventurers. He is called out to by someone familiar with him before he reunites with his old friends Lolo and Popka, who he catches up with. Klonoa also reconnects with his other friend Chipple only to learn that they are taking part in the competition as well, and a pompous rogue named Guntz who brushes him off immediately. The master of ceremonies, and sponsor of the tournament itself, Garlen, makes his appearance and informs everyone that they will be paired off in a single-elimination tournament that has them racing across several worlds of his own choosing. The first one to reach the end will be the winner and will advance to the next round.

Klonoa soon has a match with old enemy Joka, the two provoke one another before going off in their match, Joka tried to bribe the monsters into helping him beat Klonoa who overcame them and won. Joka was angry even more so when Guntz had informed him that the monsters were really rich and just took his money. He tried to attack Guntz out of anger but the latter promptly overpowered him and Joka backed down in fear.

After several rounds, Klonoa met Suiryu, who advised him to not trust Garlen and watch what happened to the loser. Klonoa won and saw that Suiryu and all the others who lost had become gears, realizing Garlen held the tournament only to acquire gears to his planned Mechanical Empire. Klonoa was infuriated by this fact, even more so as he was approached by Guntz. Seeing him, Klonoa asks about Lolo, as Guntz shrugs off the answer before an injured Popka arrived and said Lolo was taken.

Garlen then shows Lolo on the monitor being displayed as a captive and the next to be turn into a gear after being defeated by Guntz (who didn't care for what was happening). Klonoa was told if he were to beat Guntz then Garlen would free Lolo, which caused him to accept the challenge to save his friend. He defiantly told Guntz he would take him down as his amused opponent told him to try.

After defeating Guntz, Klonoa demands for Lolo to be freed as Garlen has Guntz captured and reveals his true intentions to turn Klonoa into the main gear as he has proven himself to be more than capable. However, Guntz aids Klonoa by shooting the Nagapoko, telling him he's leaving the rest up to him.

Garlen brings out his secret weapon, a giant droid which he uses to attack Klonoa. Klonoa struggles with the machine with its attacks destroying most of the fortress until Klonoa damages it to the point where it is destroyed.

As the area collapses, Klonoa manages to free Lolo and is shown carrying her. He asks his friend if she is alright as she only replies by thanking him for saving her from a terrible fate.

Klonoa sees that Chipple and everyone else reverts back to their normal selves. Garlen bemoans the destruction of his fortress as Suiryu and others come to arrest him with Suiryu revealing he was investigating Garlen for a while and went participated in the tournament as a guise to get close. The protesting Garlen is taken away.

Suiryu thanks Klonoa who is happy that he helped but asks where Guntz is as everyone looks around and sees Guntz following along his way, taking the prize money, much to Popka's protest. As he leaves, Guntz stopped and gave the winner's trophy to Klonoa, effectively making him the Champion.

Everyone then celebrated Klonoa's status as the best hero.

Gameplay
As the third handheld Klonoa game, Dream Champ Tournament plays very similarly to the rest of the games in the series. Using traditional platformer elements, the player can move Klonoa left and right, moving the screen forward as they progress. To defeat enemies, Klonoa will have to use his special weapon, the Wind Bullet, to pull them towards him so he can pick them up. From this position, he can either toss them forward to defeat other enemies, or use them to perform a double-jump to reach places he couldn't normally. In addition, by holding the jump button, Klonoa can flap his large ears to float in place for a short time, which also somewhat increases his jump height or distance.

The game consists of five worlds split into nine small levels called "visions", including a boss level where Klonoa must compete in a foot-race with another adventurer and battle a boss at the same time! One vision is also devoted to a special stage where Klonoa must navigate his hoverboard over water or other terrain while avoiding enemies.

In each vision, there are a number of items that Klonoa can collect, including exactly 3 stars (Moon Stones), 30 crystals-like objects called "Dream Shards", and one sun-shaped item called a "Sun Stone". The three stars are needed to open the exit door at the end of each vision, but the remaining items are optional. By collecting all 30 Dream Shards, a section of a piece of original artwork is revealed (5 in all, one for each world). If every Sun Stone in the game is collected by the time the player beats it, special stages called "EX Stages" will become available. Beating these new stages has no bearing on the actual game, and are included just for fun.

Worlds
Klonoa must find the exit to all the visions in each of the five worlds to beat the game, and must race his current opponent at the last vision of each world. The five worlds include:

Western Jungle: A world that resembles a lush jungle that serves as the qualifying round for the Dream Champ Tournament. Since Klonoa has no specific opponent in this round, the boss race is against a large robot.

Northern Express: A world that is covered by miles of train tracks across a desert-like landscape. All of the competition in this world takes place aboard a gigantic train. In this world, Klonoa's opponent is Joka.

Eastern Desert: A large desert that includes several ancient ruins from a pseudo-Egyptian era. Klonoa's opponent here is Gomeroth.

South Resort: A world that consists of Garlen's private island resort. Here, Klonoa must go against Suiryu, but only after he has been outfitted in a special suit that will allow him to travel in water.

Garlen's Castle: Garlen's personal fortress that is filled with tricks and traps. Here, Klonoa must go against Guntz and then, defeat Garlen himself to prove he is the greatest hero of all.

Boss Characters
Balboa: A large beetle-like monster that lives in the Western Jungle. It constantly rolls about and almost nothing can stop it (except tossing a Moo at it).

Bingobingo: A creature that roams about the Northern Express. It uses totem poles to bar the path of wanderers. It seems to be made from many parts.

Kupian: A large pink seahorse that is found in the Southern Resort. It attacks with homing missiles.

Darissa: A robotic spider in Garlen's Castle.

Garlenator: The ultimate robot that Garlen created. It is sturdy, except for a gear that is missing in the robot, leaving a part of it invulnerable.

Characters
Klonoa: The main hero of the story who is transported to the Dream Champ Tournament by Garlen. Joined by his friends Lolo, Popka, and Chipple; he intends to prove that he is the greatest hero around.

Lolo: A priestess-in-training from Lunatea who was teleported to the Dream Champ Tournament along with her companion Popka. She is an old friend of Klonoa's from an adventure. She is also hinted to have a crush on him, as seen in many levels of the game. Though Klonoa worries about her safety in the competition, she assures him that her training has made her as viable a contender as anyone else. She was captured by Garlen but ultimately freed by Klonoa.

Popka: Lolo's talkative companion and another of Klonoa's old friends from Lunatea. Popka resembles a dog with pointed features and a pair of green jewels for eyes. He is also competing in the tournament, and makes quick enemies with Guntz.

Garlen: A round man with a mechanical claw for a hand who sponsors the Dream Champ Tournament to find out who is the greatest hero in the land. Using magic invitations, he is able to teleport all the participants to his arena, and sends them one by to neighboring lands to take part in his competition. There is a darker side to this shady character.

Guntz: Called the "Golden Killer", he is an adventurer who wields a large handgun and rides a motorcycle. Since learning that Klonoa was in the tournament, he has made it is business to compete with him.

Chipple: A boxing kangaroo competes with gloves and a head guard that covers his eyes. He is an old friend of Klonoa's who usually displays a positive attitude and encourages others to do the same. Although, he does happen to go into a depression fit when he fails to achieve a goal.

Suiryu: A blue dragon who competes with Klonoa at the Southern Resort. Though he lacks any real formalities, he has actually been trained as a Knight before entering the tournament. As an expert swimmer, he feels that he has a natural edge in the competition. In fact, he has another identity hidden from other competitors.

Joka: A maniacal clown who competes with Klonoa in the Northern Express. Often resorts to cheating and other underhanded tricks in order to win.

Gomeroth: A large, green frog who makes his trade as a fisherman and competes with Klonoa in the Eastern Desert. Despite his size, he is actually quite fast on his feet.

Zweegle: A short, rat-like character with horns; a vampire. The blood of Moos is a particular favorite of his.

Anemon: A tall, silent bandit who wears arabian-esque clothing and carries a scimitar, speculated as a jerboa as with much reference directing towards the keyword "desert".

Diglo: A large brown gorilla who makes his living as a hired bodyguard. He feels his natural strength will make him a shoo-in for the title of greatest hero.

Trivia

 * In the ending of Lunatea's Veil, Klonoa previously told Lolo they would be together and here they meet again.
 * Klonoa meets Guntz, who would become a rival.
 * The official reason for Guntz's name change to Gantz in the North American version of Dream Champ Tournament is unknown. His name was most likely changed to censor any reference to the word "gun", allowing the game to keep its E rating.
 * Klonoa is reunited with Chipple, who appeared in the second game.