Written by Thomas G.J Sharpe
Oh me, oh my, yet another platformer with retro-aspiration. It would appear that the bit-aesthetic is still in full flow, for various reasons, but it is prudent to remember that the quality of character is not to be judged upon frail comparison. Adventures of Pip makes a great stab due to an innovative and engaging central game mechanic that acts as a vital load-bearer to what could be just another grunt in an ever increasing forlorn hope.
The core of the game revolves around the ability to evolve
and de-evolve the titular Pip from single blocky square to fully realised
32-bit character. Each evolution has unique abilities, be it attack or movement
based, but the innovation comes in the transitional moments, from one state to another.
For example, from 2nd level evolution is a simple pixelly figure,
you can send a shockwave as you devolve to a single pixel. With this you can
blast away environmental elements.
This neat trick, played out in different ways up and down Pip's evolutionary ladder creates a progressive, layered experience far from a linear platform experience. The gameplay is a case of matching your state to the context, which can involve backtracking and lateral thinking, always bearing in mind where you can evolve back up and down. This is not to say that the platforming is lacking in pace. There is a nice variety of enemies and environmental obstacles, but sadly, nothing you haven't seen before.
This neat trick, played out in different ways up and down Pip's evolutionary ladder creates a progressive, layered experience far from a linear platform experience. The gameplay is a case of matching your state to the context, which can involve backtracking and lateral thinking, always bearing in mind where you can evolve back up and down. This is not to say that the platforming is lacking in pace. There is a nice variety of enemies and environmental obstacles, but sadly, nothing you haven't seen before.
The story is nestled right up to the core mechanic,
involving an ambitiously evil Queen, who desires the full hi-res treatment,
casting the rest of the populous of the land into single-pixel poverty. Indeed,
there is a joyous representation of class strata through the different stages
of resolution. Perhaps the developers at Tic Toc Games are implying that Pip,
as the effective hero, is only able to accomplish great feats by transcending
social stagnation and embracing the differing benefits provided by his
contextual, relative and current class position. Or maybe it's just a platformer.
A key factor, as always with this genre, is the controls and
their immediacy to player and action. It's no Meat Boy, but control-wise
nothing really is. This is a more considered affair, rather than a relentless
twitch-reaction flurry of perfectly executed wall-jumps, twists and ducks,
although Pip has all these elements. I played with a controller and
found it perfectly functional, responsive and quick. The challenge of the game
is weighted in the variety of abilities, rather than the thunder of digits on
buttons. Pip's animations feel immediate and very much engaged with your
presses.
With all this praise, I'm sure you're waiting for a crushing
‘but’. The music is brilliant, summoning up some decent pastiches of
platformers-past with epic and sweeping, yet catchy ditties. The UI is
cheerfully blocky, nodding at Zelda et al. The world map is a cheeky Mario
nod. It's all there. So, where is the ‘but’? I would have to mark it back from
any higher than an 8 on it's ability to slightly numb you. The areas go on a
bit too long, so after you've been introduced to new abilities and situations,
then you're tested on them, the scenarios lingered too long for my patience. I
was desperate for the bosses to appear. (Editor’s note – the game is also not
the friendliest for colour blind gamers due to spikes blending into the
backgrounds)
On the point of bosses, they are Robotnik style affairs, but
ramp up the need for pitch-perfect jumps which seem a little unfair compared to
the levels themselves. Not that I don't want a challenge, but you realise very
quickly what you need to do, but can take far too many attempts. At least for
my skill and patience. In any case, this is my gripe, which I think drags Pip
from a “must buy” level to a “get if you love platformers” section.
All in all, however, with Adventures of Pip, Tic Toc
Games have made something cheerful, innovative and entertaining, if a little
long in the tooth for my jaw.
Overall 8/10
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