Last month Namco Bandai delivered a beautiful remake of Klonoa: Door To Phantomile to Japanese Wii owners, but given how poorly the game sold in the US when it first came out on the PS1 over a decade ago the chances of the Wii-make making it stateside seemed iffy at best. But thankfully Namco Bandai decided to look past the lacking retail success of the original and give the game another chance to shine in the West.
It gives me great pleasure to report that the remake of one of the most criminally overlooked all-time classic games will indeed be released sometime this year in North America under the more streamlined title Klonoa (at least that’s all it’s titled in the press release).
“Klonoa’s return marks an exciting re-boot of this beloved franchise with old-school gameplay, spectacular graphics and an instantly recognizable character,” said Todd Thorson, director of marketing and public relations for NAMCO BANDAI Games America. “Klonoa’s time-tested gameplay and intricate level design make for an awesome experience on Wii.”
Klonoa Wii faithfully resurrects the flawless platforming gameplay of the original and takes the experience to the next level with beautifully updated graphics, new Wii Remote and Nunchuk motion control functionality, and a variety of control options to suit all tastes, including support for Wii Remote only controls, the Classic Controller, a GameCube controller and the aforementioned Wiimote and Nunchuk combo. Namco Bandai also dumped off 18 screenshots to accompany the announcement, and as you can see in the gallery below they didn’t alter Klonoa’s design as that survey that went out late last year indicated was a possibility. Thank goodness for that!
Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
You have delivered what is, quite possibly, the best news I shall hear this month. This game was classic, beautiful, and moving, and to see that a company can look past “sales” and into the true value of a game like Door to Phantomile is great. I hope that all the extras will be available at the end again. Now I’ve got to get a Wii!
Glad I’m not the only one giddily excited about this news! Hopefully the more casual audience the Wii has compared to what the PS1 had will get it into more homes.