Since once you pass a certain point you can pick your own direction, the difficulty curve feels like it's all over the place, which can be frustrating. See, there are times when VVVVVV passes from the realm of 'challenging puzzle platformer' to 'reflex hardening endurance fest'. But there are no quarters to bilk us out of now, so I can only assume having levels that kill you over and over and over before you manage to pass them is Terry Cavanagh's way of saying he doesn't like my face. There's also a moderately high level of difficulty present at times, which I suppose can be construed as 'retro' as well by those of us who grew up in the arcade or NES era. Helpfully, each area is also named individually, so you'll know what to scream out in rage after you fail a precisely timed jump the fourteenth. Each area flows seamlessly into the next and represents its own challenge. The levels are expansive and well designed, with the unexplored void feeling satisfyingly epic each time you hurl your grinning avatar out into it. Sprawling, challenging, and fun, imbued with that old-school charm that those of us who remember when Atari was more than just a quaint collectible will love. VVVVVV, aside from being fun to say aloud, is pretty great. Just don't look at your death toll under the menu, and you'll remain blissfully ignorant of your fragile mortality.Īnalysis: Let's get one thing out of the way right now. Of course, death is at most a momentary inconvenience since you'll instantly respawn at the last checkpoint you touched without penalty. If it moves and it isn't you, a companion, or a platform, touching it means certain death. Deadly encounters include 'spikes', and 'pretty much everything else'. It's easier to list what isn't dangerous than to compile a list of what is. The best way to achieve this is not by careful, measured expeditions but by immediately leaping bodily into the great unknown.

The dimension you're stuck in is enormous, and locating your wayward companions requires a lot of exploration. Your main objective is to track down your missing crew members, of which there are five, which is easier said than done.

You'll need to be both fast and careful if you want to reunite the Captain with his crew, and VVVVVV is one game where success in every step of the way actually feels like an accomplishment. The game will auto-save whenever you encounter a teleporter, but you can save manually by hitting to open the menu. Since he can't jump, presumably due to a lack of knees, this comes in handy avoiding death and other obstacles. Tapping the action key of your choice,, , or the bar, flips your character's personal gravity to allow him to walk on the ceiling or the ground at a whim. While VVVVVV controls like most standard platformers using the keyboard, it does offer a twist. From Terry Cavanagh comes VVVVVV, a retro platformer not for the faint of heart. that's not lucky at all! No turning back. Luckily, you have the power of gravity on your side! Even luckier, less than ten percent of what you'll encounter isn't instantly fatal!. When a strange explosion strikes your ship and sends you hurtling through space, it's only a temporary setback.

Vvvvvv shiny trinkets