Tembo the Badass Elephant is a 2.5D side-scrolling platform game where the player controls an elephant. The fictitious Shell City is under attack by a military force called the Phantom and the commander recalls how he used to fight on top of the elephant Tembo. He calls Tembo who uses a flock of birds to fly to the city and help against the attack. To defeat the invasion three phantom domes, large tanks, need to be destroyed. Along the way civilians can be rescued as well and they travel on his back during the level. The game consists of seventeen levels with sub and main bosses.
Tembo is dressed as Rambo and he is able to jump, float in the air, slide through narrow passages and dash (optionally combined with a jump or a running attack). Dash is used to attack with his tusks, break through objects and walls to create a path and through crates to collect coins and apples that restore health. When the path is blocked below he can perform a butt stomp to break through it or use it as an attack against enemies. Tembo can also perform a dive spin in the air, launching himself towards the ground in a diagonal direction. Using his trunk he can collect water to put out fires. He can only carry a limited amount of water, shown as a separate meter below the health bar. When attacking or breaking through objects the trunk temporarily transforms into a hammer. The pace and moveset is often reminiscent of the early Sonic games.
The game uses a comic book-like visual style and certain sounds are spelled out as words. There are some environment and physics based puzzles with switches and barriers, but mainly the game is very fast and focuses on destruction. Sometimes there are branching paths. Many levels can be completed by chaining moves together without losing momentum. Tembo can jump into cannons and launch himself into the air, curling up into a ball, to travel a large distance. In each level a number of peanuts can be collected. These fill up a jar and when 300 are collected Tembo’s health can be replenished. The remaining civilians to be rescued are shown as green icons in the top right corner and the game also keeps tracks of the remaining enemies. That way, to complete levels and unlock new ones as well as bosses, there are sometimes specific requirements to fulfill. Enemies often uses projectiles that need to be dodged and Tembo always needs to get close to attack.
