Frantic, fun, but frustrating.
There is so much I like about this game, but I hesitate to give it a 5 star rating. The atmosphere that twisted pixel puts into their games always puts a smile on my face. When you first load up the title screens, moving your cursor from option to option will string together tones into a song. It is these little touches and attention to detail that make the game an inviting experience. The platforming is actually pretty good, but sometimes it feels really unforgiving. Now, I am no pro, but I am pretty decent at platforming... and I struggled to keep playing this game. I am nearly finished now, and I have trouble coming back. Now, it is ok for games to be difficult, but the curve on this game is very steep. Some of the sections between checkpoints are just plain mean. Stringing together multiple jumps all while avoiding a rising wall of water, and failing each time you make it a bit further can get frustrating. The Boss battles get really frustrating and resemble the times in Super Mario Bros 3 when you had to fight a koopa kid without using a mushroom (one hit and you are dead). The game has a "way of the coward" option to skip the level, but that doesn't work if you want to get the achievement for beating the game. When you compare this game to The Maw, the jump in difficulty seems odd. Twisted Pixel's last game was very forgiving to the player. Overall, it is 10 bucks and the fun atmosphere and solid platforming make it a great buy. If you are a fan of platformers, and you don't get frustrated easily this game is for you. If playing N+ nearly gave you an aneurysm... you might want to skip this one (your controllers will thank you for not breaking them).
