VVVVVV Review

Among the plethora of new mechanics that game developers (mostly indie) seem to be tooling around with these days, the concept of manipulating gravity seems to be garnering a fair share of attention (the positive kind, thankfully). That’s not to say that every game that features this little gimmick is transformed into an instant top-grosser, of course. It’s quite the contrary, in fact: few games currently implement this feature, and even fewer do it impressively enough. But one particular game centered around this mechanic not only manages to impress and astound, it also blows every single other one out of the water, period. And that game, ladies and gents, is VVVVVV – brainchild of genius indie game developer Terry Cavanagh, aka Distractionware.

The first thing that’ll probably smack you in the face as soon as you fire up the game is the sheer simplicity and crudeness of the visuals. A highly limited colour palette showcasing big, blocky pixels that animate once in a blue moon is probably the best way to describe what you’re going to see for the few hours you’ll spend with the game. But the big question is: is that a bad thing? “Of course it is!”, shrieks the spoiled brat of a graphics whore that resides inside you folk who’ve been OD’ing on today’s HD content. However, if you happen to have a side to you that yearns for the good old days of Commodore 64s and Sega Mega Drives till date, you’ll know that there’s happy times and nostalgic memories to be found amidst those 8-bit graphics.

Either way, VVVVVV is one of those games which yet again proves that bleeding edge visuals aren’t the only thing that make a game great. Any wise gamer knows that the crux of gaming greatness lies in gameplay mechanics and overall execution, and to that end, this often frustrating yet incredibly captivating platformer delivers very well indeed. Yes, it’s a difficult game, almost unbearably so at times, but it provides a proportionate sense of achievement too, if you stick at it. The game “world” – outer space, as the minimalist back story informs you – consists of a series of single-screen platforms riddled with challenges, obstacles, and the occasional weird enemy. However, there is no form of combat or interaction whatsoever, no weapons or power-ups to speak of, and no fancy inventory system to manage or upgrade; this is platforming at its purest. You take on the role of Captain Viridian, commander of a space ship that has crash landed on a strange planet, and you’re tasked with the objective of finding and reuniting your team members who are all stranded in different areas. You’re free to explore the world at your own pace, and there are no forced barriers to halt your progress or force you down a linear path. It’s just you against the world’s atrocities, which come in the form of spiked pits, strange creatures, moving platforms, one-use platforms, and a bunch of other stuff that I’ll leave you to discover. Along the way, you’ll find trinkets to collect and computer terminals to activate. The former will serve to unlock some goodies depending on how many you manage to collect, and the latter provides you with little messages and logs that give you some more insight into the world.

Speaking of the world, it’s worth mentioning that 1) it’s pretty massive, and 2) you’re going to die in it very, very often. Yes, to the point where you’ll punch your keyboard and pull at your hair. It’s a wee bit comforting to know, then, that there are absolutely no penalties for dying, and that checkpoints are scattered around more liberally than the blood splatters in a God of War game. Almost every screen provides you with one checkpoint at the very least, and some particularly devious areas may have two or three. Don’t scoff at that, though – you’re going to need every one of them. You see, even though it’s a hardcore, no-frills platformer, VVVVVV does one thing very differently – it takes away your ability to jump, and instead allows you to flip your character’s gravity at will. And this one subtle deviation from the standard fare that we’re so used to introduces you to such a massive world of possibilities and challenges, you’ll be lost for words (except for the parts where you’re screaming vile obscenities and pointlessly threatening your PC, faulting it for your incompetence). However, get in to the game proper, and you’ll see just how well this ties in to the fiendish level design; it’s nothing short of genius.

For a game largely developed by a single person, VVVVVV packs in a decent bunch of extras to tinker around with once you’re done rescuing your lost buddies. There are time trials with set requirements to complete, a mode which flips the entire game world upside-down, an insanely hard, addictive, seizure-inducing mini-game known as the “Super Gravitron”, a trophy room, and a no-death mode, which ends the game after one death. The most surprising thing about all this, though, is the fact that you can just waltz into the Options menu, and unlock all these things at will with the press of a button. Yup, you read that right. You don’t have to go about finishing the main game first or doing a whole bunch of other crazy stuff to unlock the extras if you don’t feel like it. A rather clever addition on the developer’s part, I say, given that some people might really get frustrated to the point of giving up altogether. This way, anyone and everyone can check out all of the developer’s work and appreciate the ingenuity of it as a whole.

Any game looking to bring the classic “retro” feel to the gamers of today would be failing at the task miserably if they weren’t accompanied by an equally retro soundtrack, but VVVVVV puts those fears to rest too. The game features one of the catchiest chiptune soundtracks I’ve laid my ears upon in recent times, created by veteran old-school videogame composer, Magnus Palsson. There’s over half an hour of fast-paced, funky, electronic goodness for your listening pleasure, and it suits the atmosphere and treacherous level design incredibly well. Sound effects are minimal, mostly cutesy “bleeps” and “boops”, but they’re perfectly used and punctuate the right moments in the game. It’s all one big bag of aural treats without any unwanted tricks.

There’s not much more left to say, really – VVVVVV is an extremely hardcore, true-blue platformer, with a simple, well-implemented gravity switching system that just seems to fit in naturally. The awesome chiptune soundtrack coupled with the chunky 8-bit graphics do wonders for the game as it seeks to deliver a purely retro experience to our current generation of gamers. The highly simplistic gameplay makes it easily accessible to anyone, though the wicked level design and devilish difficulty in some areas may not be for everyone. Nevertheless, this is one gem of a game that deserves a play through from any and every gamer who is or has ever been a fan of old-school platforming, retro-style games, or even better, both – get ‘em now, people!