PixlBit

Color me neutral

Once upon a time, your average big budget game was expected to be bright and colorful with more realistic looking games being the exception. Today, however, a realistic look is more prominent and colorful games stand out more than ever. The Last Tinker: City of Colors feels like an attack against the loss of color - personified into a game - where the objective is to literally stop an evil force from removing all of the color in the world using the power of the red, green, and blue gods.

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Releasing this game between the launch of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and right before Mario and Zelda was probably a mistake.

If you know the company, Shin’en, it’s likely that you associate them with their well-crafted shooters, and not the platforming genre. But back on the Wii, the team charted into these new grounds with Jett Rocket. The WiiWare title was a decent attempt at a 3D platformer that now has a follow-up on the 3DS eShop. Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai takes a slightly different approach, blending both 2D and 3D platforming, while working in an assortment of mini-games to break up the fifteen core levels. The brief experience is enjoyable at times, but more frequently blasé, being outclassed by other titles in both variants of the platforming genre.

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¡Viva la escuela vieja!

Old school games are here to stay, thanks to gems like Guacamelee, a fun 2D beat-'em-up/platformer with endearing characters and dialogue and a distinct Mexican flavor. It's filled to the brim with humor and now-ancient video game references to Mario, Zelda, and Metroid that will leave you laughing at how blatant they are. Its setting, music, and modern design choices all work together to make something new enough that you'll forget you're off yet again to save una otra princesa.

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I really dig this game…

SteamWorld Dig is one of those completely out of left field games. Before it hit the market, I had no idea it was even a thing that existed. Shortly after witnessing a small sample of the gameplay, my interest level shot through the roof; rightfully so, as it turns out. This mining action-platformer is innovative, interesting, and fun from end to end.

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My, that’s a polished turd!

Beautiful aesthetics, wonderful music, and just about perfect controls are all you could hope for in a platformer save one very important factor and this eluded me for a while.  I couldn’t figure out with so many great things going on in Pid why I hated it so very deeply.  Eventually I realized that its well-crafted elements were completely overwhelmed by the boring, mediocre, and at times maddening level design.  It’s a shame that the designers primarily focused on the window dressing bits instead of considering all the things you would actually be doing when you play.  Pid struggles with knowing what sort of levels it wants to present, switching from puzzles to difficult platforming to stealth to long periods of just waiting around or running in a straight line.  Each of these disparate level types (and more) are middling at best on their own and when combined are a complete drag.  Pid’s wonderful presentation can’t save it from the tedium packed into every single minute of its tortuous length.

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