Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/105700/
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
Developer: Secret Base
Publisher: Secret Base
Platforms: PC
Release Date: July 18, 2011
Genre: Platformer
Pros:
-Charming graphics and music has a sense of nostalgia for retro games
-Simple concept makes it easy to learn
-Two player cooperative mode makes for a fun and silly adventure
Cons:
-The game is littered with game breaking bugs
-Levels designs can get boring after playing a while
-Single-player isn't nearly as fun as two-player co-op
With a bit of reminiscence of the original Ice Climbers, Tobe and Nana sets off to find treasure as they scale down the deep caverns and climb back up. The game brings back the simple enjoyment of platforming from the retro days with a focus on two-player co-op. The 8-bit graphics, easy-going music, and adorable sprites capture a certain charm that made it attractive as an indie game. The game can be played solo, but it's not as fun. Both characters have their own abilities and so each player will have their own play style to adjust to. As a two-player game, it has its own challenge of coordinating with your partner and getting into all sorts of shenanigans with one player jumping off the head of the other or grappling each other up from the edges of a cliff. As a single-player game, you have a straight-forward platformer with some light puzzles in-between. Unfortunately, the game suffers from a lot of glitches and bugs that cause the player to fall to their deaths, get stuck, or miss a grab entirely. Such problems can be overlooked and laughed at in two-player mode with a friend but is incredibly frustrating when playing single-player. I would advise finding a partner to play two-players with or one who doesn't mind a lack of polish in their platformers before deciding to purchase and play the game.
Aesthetics
One of the main reasons why I was so interested in the game in the first place was the 8-bit graphics. The levels looked so clean, the sprites were cute, and the power-ups reminded me of Sonic the Hedgehog. For the most part, the graphics were great and had a sense of nostalgia for old school platformers; however, there were some levels were the environment was a bit messy. Foreground objects would obscure the objects in the mid-ground and some of the background converged with some of the colors of the objects in the foreground. This caused some problems with the player finding where they could land and where they couldn't or not being able to find objects they were supposed to grab. The music isn't entirely chiptune based, but it does have a bit of a feeling of it being a retro game. The tunes weren't entirely enjoyable to listen to, but they complimented the graphics, theme, and game rather well. The sound effects were mostly, if not all, chip based (8-bit sound card). I think such sounds like unlocking a chest uses a recording rather than a synthesized creation. The in-between conversations and cinematics made it almost feel like a flash game and uses vector-based drawings rather than pixel-based art. The art, audio and design put together was somewhat consistent and had a certain charm, but it was enough to get me to buy the game. Aesthetics: 7/10
Buttons
The controls were pretty simple with movement keys, jump, run, and item which adds up to only 3 keys with the 4 directions. With these few keys, the player can wall jump, climb up ledges, grab onto vines, roll, hop on top of enemies and objects, etc. The game played out alright at first, but later on in the game, there are noticeable problems when trying to grab a ledge, grab a vine, wall jumping, pull yourself up and sliding down where the keys don't respond how you want it to or glitch out. The jumping takes a bit of getting used to and near the end in the more difficult levels, it can be incredibly frustrating. The jump height and distance are rather limited which is fine for most cases, but long jumps are more difficult to judge as the player slows down mid-jump or a jump that should have grabbed onto the ledge didn't trigger. It's rather easy to fumble around with the controls when it feels heavy and unresponsive which made the game less enjoyable when it shouldn't. It's important to have clean and responsive movement and jumps in a platformer or it'll just be a frustrating journey the whole way through. Buttons: 6/10
Concept & Content
The goal of the game is to travel downwards to reach the large treasure chest and then escape by climbing back to the beginning of the level. One of the things I didn't like was that all the smaller chest required pressing down multiple times to open while the large one has a bar that measures your timing to when you open it. It kind of broke that flow every time and felt inconsistent. Between the entrance and the large chest is a number of light puzzles, platforming, and enemies. It was interesting at first, but the levels, enemies, puzzles, and and challenge got boring after a while and lost its novelty. The game is rather short with 4 islands with 4 levels each (16 levels in all) which is fine as the game would've just dragged on if it was any longer. If the game wasn't boring, it was frustrating when a bug or glitch causes some oddity to occur that kills the player. I've had the character miss grabs, unable to switch vines, get stuck in walls, can't move far in mid-air, unable to let go of an edge, etc. The main attraction to Tobe's Vertical Adventure is having a 2nd player join in the action and play two-player cooperative. Concept & Content: 6/10
Duration
The game isn't that long, but it would have probably been worse if it was longer. The game flow is pretty consistent. The problem is that it's so consistent that nothing really changes or triggers further interest in it. It didn't get worse, but it didn't get that much better as the player progress through the islands. The game does get a bit more difficult as the game goes on, but it didn't really make it more entertaining. In fact, there were times where it felt more like an arduous task getting through some areas than an enjoyable challenge. There are actually 3 different routes to play through: Tobe's wall run style, Nana's double jump style, and two-player cooperative. After getting through Tobe's story, I tried out the other two and realized it's the same exact game with different styles. I gave up after a while as the game no longer held interest. Some parts were fun, some parts weren't. Duration: 7/10
Fun
I bought the game hoping to enjoy some retro style platforming, and in the beginning it was pretty entertaining. But as I progressed through the game, I started getting bored and/or frustrated by the gimpy jumping, stale level designs, and glitchy hit-box recognitions. I liked running up walls and wall jumping as it felt strategic and challenging. But a lot of the puzzles and jumps were more experimental and mostly about timing. By the end of the game, I didn't care for the game anymore. Two-player cooperative definitely was interesting and is evident that it was focus for the game's true design, but it was already too late and I no longer wanted to play it anymore. Fun: 6/10
Overall
I guess I'm sort of glad I bought the game as I learned a bit about how others might approach the platform genre, but at the same time I felt like the game annoyed me. Perhaps it's because I felt like it could've been a lot better which shine some hope for its series. There were moments in the game where I enjoyed the challenges, making jumps I didn't think I'd make, wall jumping into a climb, and collecting 100% of the items just to feel fulfilled; however, the sheer boredom from recycled puzzles, generic designs in every level, and the multiple bugs and glitches made for a bitter experience by the end of the game. I couldn't really recommend the game, but it might be a fun two-player cooperative game as long as the players don't mind a lack of polish. Overall: 6.4/10
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