Bandai Namco has filed a trademark in the UK that leads to further suggestion that re-releases or remakes may be in the works.
In September, the publisher registered trademarks in Japan for ‘Waffuu Encore’ and ‘1&2 Encore’.
This led some to believe that this meant Klonoa was returning – although the Klonoa games weren’t known as Waffuu in Japan, one of Klonoa’s trademark catchphrases is “Wahoo”, which Bandai Namco may have translated to “Waffuu”.
Now those claims have been given further credence with a new trademark registration made in the UK on Friday, for ‘Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series’.
Bandai Namco had also already registered a Klonoa Encore trademark in Japan in 2019, along with Mr Driller Encore and Splatterhouse Encore.
The 1&2 Encore registration in September led to speculation that it could suggest both Klonoa and its sequel Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil are being remastered.
The new Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series trademark registration adds to this theory, since the name implies more than one game.
Bandai Namco has already released a Mr Driller Encore game
The original Klonoa: Door to Phantomile was released on PlayStation in 1997. Despite gaining widespread critical acclaim and enjoying modest success in Japan, the game struggled to sell well in the west.
Despite this, it managed to spawn a sequel and a number of Game Boy Advance spin-offs.
The first game already received a remake in 2008, when developer Paon made an updated version for the Wii.
It too was met with praise but was considered a commercial failure, entering the Japanese charts at number 33. As a result, a planned remake of the second game was scrapped.