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Lunistice PC Review

There is this surge of indie developers who are offering homage to the 32-bit era of video games, both in visuals and gameplay styles. I appreciate how they take those elements and run with them to see what they can do to push the limits while keeping up the aesthetics and designs, but not some of the awkwardness from that time. There have been plenty of horror games that go for the low graphical style, but that is not the only genre, as platformers and first-person shooters have also joined the fray. The latest game to be inspired by the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation era is Lunistice, a 3D platformer created by a one-man development studio, A Grumpy Fox. They have crafted a platformer that screams the late 90s in such a wonderful fashion and is just as cute as any of those classic platform characters you remember.

Hana the Tanuki is the main character, a cute little creature who travels through seven dreamscapes, across 15 levels, made up of her memories around various themes. Platformers do not need stories, as they can get by with a simple setup to get the player on their way. Lunistice does this at the start with a simple short introduction, but there are short snippets of information that can be found as secrets in the levels. Trying to piece all this together, I think I understood that there is something about an event known as the “Moonfall”, one that will bring destruction to humanity within a year. To counter this, there seems to be some program that can help with overcoming this issue. Hana is a person selected within this program that seems to be able to overcome the Moonfall by making her way through the memories, something other attempters have yet to be able to do. A fascinating quick read, but one that is not needed, as this game is all about its old-school platforming.

This throwback captures everything good about those days. Each level is linear, short, and makes for focused platforming, only taking a few minutes to finish. Collectables are hidden within these levels, such as four letters that spell out of main character’s name, a certain amount of paper cranes to pick up and an alternative checkpoint that becomes available from collecting all the letters. These accumulate to a grade reward, plus depending on how fast the level is completed and if it was done without any deaths. The experience might be short, taking around 2-3 hours to finish, but there is added replayability for people who want to get S-Rank on every stage and the fastest times. Plus, there are two secret characters to unlock from other indie games (Toree 3D and Holomento), which play slightly differently due to their abilities. For example, Toree can only take one hit instead of three and has no way to attack enemies, so must avoid them. Lunistice also tracks those new characters with their own scores and times, giving more reason to play the game through. Price does not factor if a game is good or not, but if you are a person who asks these questions, then Lunistice is going for a silly price of £4.99, easily worth it for the fun on offer in this tiny package.

Each of the seven worlds slowly builds in a new feature, getting more complex with every new theme that is added. The first world is rather standard, but as you get through them, elements like rail grinding (think Sonic the Hedgehog), bouncing platforms, bubble balls and wind all are used to give each world its own danger, eventually testing the player’s ability to adapt to these by bringing them all together for the last few levels. A standout level is one that has platforms appearing and disappearing to the beat of the music. The player must judge when to go so that they land when the platform emerges. This is easier than it sounds when the platforms start disappearing with every beat of the funky music.

It helps that Hana is simple to control, one made with just three buttons. The character moves well with an analogue stick, with a sort of lightness/floatiness to her movement. She runs at a good speed, she can perform a triple jump, with an attack that adds air movement enabling players to adjust her trajectory to help with the tighter platforming sections. There is also a dedicated walk button that can be held down to get better accuracy for thin ledges. I would say that the visuals do make Hana’s shadow a little hard to determine on certain coloured stages, which can lead to unwanted deaths by missing thin platforms that hang in the air, but that is only a small gripe with an otherwise extremely fun platformer.

The only disappointment is that enemies do not propose a challenge, and there is not much variety in them, with about three or four enemy types featured in all the game’s levels. They feel more like obstacles in the level design, an element that is blocking the way that can be destroyed in a single hit with Hana’s tanuki tailspin attack. The levels themselves are the real deal, but their design never feels too challenging. It is the pressure of aiming for a fast time that makes them more daunting. Any deaths will come from falling and not from those small fry foes, and even then, the game is great with its checkpoint system. A player never spawns too far back, maybe too generous, as sometimes I have missed collectables in the level, but could not go back due to the checkpoint area being on a different part of the level. A restart is the only way to get around this issue. A nice thing is that the HANA letters do not need to be done within the same level of completion, unlike the rest of the collectables and graded categories.

A Grumpy Fox has smashed the visuals out of the park when it comes to recreating those 32-bit graphical quirks. There is an alternative high-res mode that removes the pixelation look, making it appear more like a game passed through emulation, that clear, pristine, crisp visual that comes with emulating PlayStation games, but I feel this loses the character. I preferred the large, pixelated element of the game’s graphics. A CRT option is also included, but I still preferred the original look, as I was not a fan of the curve it adds to the corner of the image. There is more detail here than they would be on hardware from that time period. Each world goes for a distinct look with huge draw distances, such as a summer beach or a forest set in autumn, packed with orange and brown colours on the trees and the leaves that cover the ground of the stage. There is a good amount of detail gone into this simplistic style that brings personality to each of the worlds. With a solid 60fps, the game runs and looks terrific, and simply feels good to play due to this. The soundtrack is nice on the ears as well.

Lunistice has been created to give fans of platformers who are on their way to middle age something to reminisce with. The developer has done a great job in replicating what made the platformers for the PlayStation and Saturn so enjoyable that I could not help but smile as I played. The game brings tight controls, silky smooth gameplay, and a wonderful visual style that upholds the charm of those consoles of old; there is something aesthetically pleasing about it. Lunistice might not be a long game, but what there is a blast to play. Not all games have to push the boundaries of the medium, some can just give us a jolly good time. Lunistice does that without needing hours of your time, yet engages the player with its platforming and level design. Lunistice is a good pick for anyone who wants to enjoy a platformer that feels stripped straight from the late 90s for an afternoon or two. Plus, at an incredible price of £4.99, checking out this blast to the past will not hurt anyone’s gaming budget.

7 out of 10