Every level in Kid Chameleon is set in one of the ten different scenarios — this is what we call the level's theme. The theme decides:
- What tileset and background the level should have
- What color the diamonds and some blocks have
- What music the level has (with exception of levels with a murder wall)
- What splash screen displays when the level (re-)starts
Themes in KC[]
Themes are a helpful feature in a level to help identify it (which is useful, since it's easy to lose one's way through the game and many rounds share the same name. The following list summarily describes them. Each theme as its own article.
Woods[]
A nice green forest to stroll around in your little red riding samurai hood. Tall trees, green grass, bridges, a nice lake in the background, complicated treehouses in advanced levels. Diamonds are green, coins are silvery. Very holistic.
Mountain[]
Yellowish rocks, beautiful blue cascades, vine bridges. Put on your horned helmet and do some mining. Diamonds are blue, coins are golden.
Cave[]
Lava pits, spikes, ornamental skulls in the walls, and vast caverns in the glowing red background. Time to try your Jason mask on and axe your way to the surface. Red diamonds are featured.
Island[]
Tropical scenery, the magnificent blue sea, sand, palm trees, totems... The occasional green-eyed kebab and lots of dark green diamonds. Reggae-like soundtrack.
Hills[]
Light green fields dotted with stone ruins, statues, petrified Dragons and Armadillos... Oriental-themed music and a karstic terrain in the background.
City[]
Urban scene with lots of skyscrapers in the background, brick buildings, fire staircases... In advanced levels, even neon signs, mailboxes, streetlamps. Beneath the sidewalks, an ambiguous indoors scene that can pass for an industrial warehouse or a sewer. Ride your skate and fly your ass across the 8 mile.
Ice[]
Ice all around. Yellow sky. Light blue blocks. Frozen enemies. Sharp mountains in the background. Brown diamonds. Same music as in the title screen.
Swamp[]
Giant trees. In Devil's Marsh 2, the action takes place within the trees, in tunnels carved in the logs. Bloody Swamp features long bridges between the trees and cute sheds.
Desert[]
Egyptian theme. An unmistakable palette - orange sands and blue pyramid ruins. Bluish diamonds.
Sky[]
A surreal scenery: the terrain consists of blue-grayish rock and green grass. Check the floating islands in Wind Castles 1; spiky mushrooms grow all around. However, most levels take place in gigantic castles erected in the air, with brown bricks, green gems and gargoyles.
Theme Gallery[]
Helmets and enemies[]
On some themes, certain enemies and helmets are seen more often than others. The most obvious example is that Cyclone and SkyCutter are prominent in Sky-themed levels, and that dragons often appear on Wood- and Hill-themed levels. This seems to be a design choice rather than any technical limitation, though. However, Elsewhere levels "break" this option of desing choice with enemies selection.
Color palettes[]
The table below shows all available themes, first level, how many levels each theme has (with non-elsewheres in parentheses), and which color scheme they use.
Main themes | |||
---|---|---|---|
Theme | First sighting | Total | Color palette |
Woods | Blue Lake Woods 1 | 13 (9) | |
Mountain | Highwater Pass 1 | 10 (9) | |
Cave | Under Skull Mountain 1 | 8 (4) | |
Island | Elsewhere 1 or Isle of the Lion Lord | 13 (11) | |
Hills | Hills of the Warrior 1 | 9 (9) | |
City | Elsewhere 3 or Windy City | 8 (5) | |
Ice | The Crystal Crags 1 | 12 (9) | |
Swamp | Elsewhere 5 or Devil's Marsh 1 | 7 (3) | |
Desert | Pyramids of Peril | 9 (3) | |
Sky | Skydragon Castle 1 | 10 (6) | |
Modified themes | |||
Cave | Stairway to Oblivion | 2 (1) | |
Cave | Plethora | 1 (1) | |
City | Alien Twilight | 1 (1) | |
Mountain | Stormwalk Mountain | 3 (2) |
Alternate palettes[]
- Stairway to Oblivion features a unique color palette modified from the Cave theme.
- Plethora features a unique color palette modified from the Cave theme.
- Elsewhere 23 features the same modified color palette as Stairway to Oblivion.
- Alien Twilight features a unique color palette modified from the City theme.