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News
Its that time of year again! - the release of the third Humble Indie Bundle, giving us 5 indie games which run on Linux, and we can pay what we want for them. Four of the games in the bundle will be reviewed over the next few issues (‘And Yet it Moves’ was reviewed in Issue 43). This month, I am reviewing this very retro platformer.
At first glance, VVVVVV will remind many of you about the good-old-days playing games on your Commodore 64. I have been told the good old classic games are brilliant, and so is VVVVVV .The story around VVVVVV is about Captain Viridian, who must try to evacuate her spaceship after it was affected by a dimensional interference. Over the lengthy single player campaign, you must try to find your crewmates across the dimensions of VVVVVV. The storyline, while fairly basic, is interesting, and is told through cut scenes and text. Sadly, no voice acting here.
The gameplay is typical of a 2D platform: enjoyable, while being simple and easy to pick up and play. However, VVVVVV does deploy some interesting gameplay mechanics. You cannot jump, even though there are plenty of platforms to jump across to and traps to avoid. VVVVVV solves this problem with the ability to switch how gravity works, you can be moving on the floor - and then switch to moving on the ceiling. It is a very clever ability, which makes the game very enjoyable, and different from your standard ‘Mario-Style’ platformer. VVVVVV can be a tricky game at times. It can be annoying falling off a ledge for the tenth time, but, luckily, VVVVVV has plenty of checkpoints to save your progress.
Sadly, VVVVVV is not as feature packed as many games are today. No extra modes, achievements, level editor, or multiplayer. Just a straight single player campaign, which in all fairness is decent in length, just not that replay-able.
As mentioned before, there is nothing to brag about with the graphics. It is the most retro new game you will play, taken straight out of the 8-bit era. You old gamers will love reliving this era, while some of our new gamers may find it slightly off-putting, but I don’t think the graphics should put you off playing this excellent platformer. Remember, looks are not everything! The sound is solid throughout, suiting the look of the game, sounds of the 8-bit era.
VVVVVV is a fantastic indie title. They have been very brave to design a game with retro graphics and sounds. But, it seems to work well for a 2D platformer. The level design is excellent, gameplay mechanics are new and interesting, plenty of checkpoints is a huge bonus while still making a challenging game. Sadly, there are no extra modes, and the single player campaign you will probably only want to play through once; VVVVVV does not have a lot of legs. Out of all the games in the Humble Bundle 3, I think VVVVVV is my favourite game, even though the title is a pain to type!
Score: 7/10
Good: Retro Graphics & Sounds Great new mechanics Plenty of Checkout
Bad: No extra modes Can be very difficult at times
Screenshots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf06P-_1lkU (Video) http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2010/04/01/vvvvvv-thumb.png http://www.originalsoundversion.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/vvvvvv_flip2.png
