It’s your job to get character Bob from the start of the level to the finish, collecting gems as you do so. Levels are short - usually around ten seconds to complete at fastest speed, which amounts to no more than five-ten jumps - but intense, with a huge amount of obstacles crammed into a short space, forcing you to always be looking one danger ahead. It’s not good enough to react as death swings towards you, you need to be ready with your jump - your route through the level either needs to be planned in advance, or your reactions need to be lightning quick.
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| The clouds weren't a lie, the tourist board just forgot to mention everything else |
The aim, regardless of mode, is to get as high a score as possible by making it through as many levels as possible. In Escalation, you go through levels with as much time as you want, with challenges getting progressively harder, and a finite amount of lives - it’s all about taking your time to insure your survival. Time Crisis puts a time limit on things, and is where the action hits its highest point, making every level a panicked and frantic mess of running and jumping, not giving you anytime to assess obstacles before blindly leaping into the breach.
The most impressive aspect is that all this is procedurally generated. For a game that produces the layouts of levels on a fly, it’s a feat that there is always a perfect route through them, which - if you can’t quite get the knack yourself - can be handily pointed out to you at the cost of points. WIth so much going on around the screen, and so many obstacles deposited in such a short amount of time - as well as variables such as mode - and character type (you can play as a Giant Bob, or with a jetpack, or with wings for instance) - it’s a marvel you’re always provided with such a precise and delicate route through the mess.
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| Customise your character so every death will leave them feeling as silly as possible |
The main problem the game faces is that among all this panic you’ll find yourself having to absolutely hammer the jump button in order to get your character jumping as high as they possibly can. The logic behind it makes sense - it’s pressure sensitive, giving you a range of jump heights which, in theory, allow you more flexibility in dodging the variety of obstacles in your path. In reality, it means that in a game where quick reactions and responsiveness mean everything, you’re often punished for not pushing the jump button hard enough, simply because you don’t have enough time to do so.
Even if the jumping had been solid, though, it still doesn’t quite capture the magic of games it takes inspiration from like Super Meat Boy. It always feels too much like you’re doing exactly the same thing again and again, with the super-quick levels and a poor diversity of obstacles both contributing to the deja-vu that kicks in pretty soon after you start your Cloudberry Kingdom. High score chasers may forgive it for that, and its high-level of challenge means it appeals to difficult-junkies, but it doesn’t quite forge its own path, instead replicating one already well-trodden.
CLOUDBERRY KINGDOM VERDICT
Even if the jumping had been solid, though, it still doesn’t quite capture the magic of games it takes inspiration from like Super Meat Boy. It always feels too much like you’re doing exactly the same thing again and again, with the super-quick levels and a poor diversity of obstacles both contributing to the deja-vu that kicks in pretty soon after you start your Cloudberry Kingdom. High score chasers may forgive it for that, and its high-level of challenge means it appeals to difficult-junkies, but it doesn’t quite forge its own path, instead replicating one already well-trodden.
TOP GAME MOMENT
As is always the case in games of this nature: hitting that new high score.
