Platform Puzzlers are my favourite type of video-game because well-made ones really give you a warm sense of accomplishment when you work out and complete certain levels. These are the games that give you the buzz that have you dancing, swinging and tapping away happily when you complete those tricky levels. I don't care what anyone says about video games but if an activity can give you that type of tingle which genuinely makes you happy then I aint giving them up baby!
*Links are to the excellent Total Biscuit's YouTube reviews - wherever available - or to a walkthrough/clip showing typical gameplay. But be aware, some of his opinions are debatable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Limbo has you controlling a young silhouetted boy who has to navigate his way through eerie jungles, industrial wastelands and various creepy landscapes to find his missing sister. The beauty of this platform-puzzler, unlike the baffling complexity of Braid, lies in its simplicity and its ingenious level designs. The conundrums are extremely well-thought through and, as such, you are aware that you are playing a masterpiece and never feel let-down (or that the developers will let you down) as you play. The colour-scheme is black and white with a few shades of grey and the controls, likewise, are simple, straightforward and spot-on. A classic.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nightsky is very similar in gameplay to Limbo, in that you navigate screen by screen through a simple terrain, except that it has a dash more colour and you control a ball. Again simplicity is its strength with inventiveness just as amazingly good if not better in parts. The level of difficulty hits the sweet-spot absolutely spot-on. It had me wracking my brains brilliantly in part, for sure, but I am proud to say that I never used YouTube to solve any of the problems (unlike with Limbo which I had to resort to 2 or 3 times).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toki Tori is a cartoony offering which has you controlling an egg-shaped bird thing that has to collect all the eggs in a level to complete it. A level is an area (which you can scroll around in) consisting of bridges, ladders and corridors etc which you have to traverse with the help of a limited number of objects and power-ups that you are given at the start. The game does get difficult (to the point where I had to use YouTube in the last 4 or 5 levels) but deep thought will get you through it and job satisfaction is forthcoming when you crack it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trine is a glorious and stunning platform-puzzler that plunges you into a fairy-tale land of goblins, ghouls and dragons - and is easily one of the best platform-puzzlers money can buy. You control either a warrior (to bash and defend against things), a wizard (to conjure up boxes and to move things) or a thief (to fire arrows and swing on things). By switching through these characters, using whichever power you best see fit, you negotiate through the beautiful fantasy world around you. The puzzles have enough huge variety to keep the game extremely dynamic and there is never a dull or overly frustrating moment. Superb.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unmechanical may have a stupid name but it's most definitely not a stupid game. Here, you control a floating robot and, with just the ability to move and pick things up, you clear and solve your way out of the cave you are trapped in. The variety of puzzles come in a huge range of shapes and sizes with plenty of buttons to press, levers to pull and a multitude of other gloriously designed conundrums. For this reviewer, a YouTube walkthrough had to be peaked at about 4 times but I kicked myself for looking everytime as the "obvious" solution was shown. Still, with an atmosphere and soundtrack very much like the extraordinary OIO (see below), the game hits the sweet-spot and makes you use your loaf in all the right ways. Highly recommended.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Honourable Mentions:
Blocks That Matter is an old-school platform puzzler which is all about collecting and moving various types of block so as to get to the portal to escape. Minecraft fans might like this.
Professor Fizzwizzle is a real thinking man's affair which will have you staring at the screen for ages to figure out the more fiendishly difficult puzzles. Fantastic, up until it gets almost impossibly difficult around half-way through.
Rochard (pronounced "rock 'ard" apparently) has you firing a gun at various items and jumping around a gravity-defying space-station. Not really played enough to give it a full recommendation though.
Vessel is a well-designed, graphically pleasing, platformer involving globs of water that you control in order to manipulate switches and other types of machinery. Again, not played enough to fully recommend.
VVVVVV is a top-down platformer that could have been invented for computers such as a Spectrum or an Atari console back in the 1980s; proving that games don't need top-of-the-range graphics to be fun.
OIO is not a Steam game but far too ingenious and brilliant not to be given a mention here. It is a game up there with Trine and Limbo as one of the greats and it's criminally insane not to have been taken under the wing of Steam. It has everything a decent puzzle platformer should have.
------------
No comments:
Post a Comment