Light Tracer Review

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Release Date: September 26, 2017
Platform(s): PSVR
Developer: Void Dimensions
Price: $14.99

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Light Tracer combines platform-style movement and unique puzzles with exceptional controls and graphic style.  Using two Move controllers, players lead a princess to the top of a tower to help her save her people. One controller is used to wield a Light Staff to guide the princess and the other interacts with objects and moves the camera around the world. Players will use a combination of jumping skills, precise timing and strategic attacks to complete eight chapters with five levels each.  

As with most VR games, the controls in Light Tracer are a little difficult to adapt to at first, but I got used to them fairly quickly.  One thing I found that I didn’t like was that I had to center the camera quite often.  As mentioned before, one controller is used to move the world around and this is used quite often.  Some levels require a bit of rotating the world in order to look at the path ahead of the princess to plan out your strategy or solve puzzles.  Doing this causes quite a bit of re-centering the camera.

With that being said, the gameplay in Light Tracer is very fluid and immersive.  The levels get more and more difficult as you go, with little messages appearing with info every now and then, such when you unlock a new ability or need to use an ability for the first time. This doesn’t make the game any easier, it just notifies you about what the princess is able to do now. Thankfully, there are checkpoints throughout the levels that you will return to if you die.  Not only are these appreciated due to the rising difficulty level, they also give you a chance to take your time and explore different ways to solve puzzles and advance through the stages.

At one point, the constant rise in difficulty reaches the point where you can control gravity in an upside down world, and a world with mechanical puzzles that are even harder to beat. This all goes for the bosses as well. The first boss requires a couple of easy moves, but after that, each boss can take a few tries before conquering.   The boss puzzles are fun and usually more challenging than their stages, as they usually combine recently learned mechanics with some new idea or twist that you need to really think of to identify and successfully beat each boss.

When it comes to graphics, the game is beautifully designed. The levels are fantastic and beautiful with quirky characters as enemies, and every single platform is unique.  As for character design, each type of terrain has its own type of enemy and they are all cute and quirky. There are different outfits you can purchase for the princess by collecting crystals strewn about the levels. There are three dresses and one panda suit.  Yes, a panda suit.  The crystals are easy to get at first, but later it becomes a life-or-death choice when there are multiple moving platforms and enemies and 10 crystals to be had over a gaping hole in the center of the platform. 

Overall, Light Tracer is a very fun and intuitive VR experience.  The controls can take a little bit to get used to, but once you are used to them they come natural.  The increasing difficulty is a plus, as it never becomes too easy or too difficult.  In fact, have those ‘aha’ moments is one thing that makes you want to keep going.  The only downside to Light Tracer is the camera issues, but I was able to put these aside for the most part.  If you enjoy platforming puzzle games and own a PSVR, Light Tracer is a no-brainer purchase for $14.99.  

Pros

• Fluid and intuitive gameplay and controls.
• Beautiful graphics
• Unique and challenging puzzles

Cons

• Camera angles can cause problems

Thank you to Void Dimensions for providing us with a review copy.

Toby: The Secret Mine Review (Xbox One)

In Toby: The Secret Mine, developed by Lukas Navratil and published by Headup Games, players control Toby, who races through levels and solves puzzles in an attempt to save his friends that have been held captive by a mysterious species. Unfortunately, players will do little more over the course of this 2D puzzle-platformer than solve puzzles and execute simple platforming segments.

The gameplay in Toby: The Secret Mine is very straight-forward and simple. Anyone that has ever played a platformer should be able to pick up this game and play it.  Controls are very simple and that is not a criticism against the game. I usually don’t complain about a game being too simple as long as it doesn’t get too repetitive. This is where Toby lacks. After getting about half way through the games 21 levels, which you can complete in a day or less if you try, I began getting bored and tired of the same types of puzzles and levels. As stated above, you must save as many of your friends, whom are trapped in cages throughout the levels.  Unfortunately, there is no indication on how many of these friends are in each level or how many you have left to find, so it can be hard to find them all.

The graphics in Toby: The Secret Mine are by far the game’s biggest strength. The Limbo-esque visuals are amazing and change enough between levels to help keep the game fresh and interesting, at least for awhile. Backgrounds look amazing and the use of effects and lighting are honestly some of the best I’ve seen in platform games.  

Overall, Toby: The Secret Mine is a short, decent platformer. It is available on the Xbox Store for $9.99. I’m not sure I would spend the $10 on this game, unless you are really wanting a short platformer to play through. The puzzles are way too easy and repetitive and there is no real storyline to keep players engaged. There are plenty of other similar platformers out there that are better.

2/5

Mutant Mudds: Super Challenge Review

Mutant Mudds: Super Challenge is a retro-style action-platformer developed by Renegade Kid.  I haven’t had a chance to play the previous Mutant Mudd game, so keep that in mind. The story, as well as most other features of the game, is fairly minimal. Players play as Max and Max receives special intel, revealing the location of the original meteor impact site and the fact that mutant mudds are still being spawned from it. Max sets out from a secret hideout in the jungle to locate the meteor and destroy it for good.

The graphics in Mutant Mudds: Super Challenge are really good considering the style of the game. For the most part, the levels and enemies look great. It appears to be a fun, family friendly game, although the gameplay may tell you differently.  The game also features a depth-of-field effect used which allows the character to move to different layers. Any other layers are blurred just enough to pull the focus to the one where your character resides, but not enough that you cannot make out the dangers and pitfalls should you find a jump pad.  I found this feature to add quite a bit to the gameplay.

When it comes to gameplay, the Super Challenge in the title doesn’t steer your wrong.  The game is in fact super challenging.  Be prepared to die and die often.  Sometimes, it will happen slowly as your three hearts are extinguished by the Mutant Mudd, and other times it will be instantaneous, like when you are impaled on a shiny spike.  While trying to avoid these Mutant Mudds and shiny spikes, your main mission is to pick up gold tokens, one hundred of them per level to be exact.  Some are hidden behind walls with only a small crack revealing a glimpse of the treasure that lies in wait. You still have to find a way inside and some can be quite tricky.  As stated before, being able to jump into the background adds another layer of complexity to an already precise game.

While the game is very challenging, there are things along the way to help you out.  There are three different power-ups in each level, if you can find the secret room to equip them. The first is a power-shot, handy for clearing away doors blocking your way to secret places. Second, is an extended in-air hover. Last, there is the vertical boost at lets you rocket up into the air, once per jump.  You might need one or more of these power-ups to collect all the coins in each level. That means you need to revisit some levels more than once. One plus to this is that all the coins you collect each time stay will stay, as long as you reach the exit.  

If you are looking for a challenge and enjoy retro-style platformers, definitely check out Mutant Mudds: Super Challenge, but remember to be prepared to die, ALOT (the game even trolls you with a display of how many times you have died.)  It is available on PSN for $9.99 and is cross-buy with PS Vita.

4/5

Poncho Review (PS4)

Poncho is a two-dimensional, semi open-world, scrolling platformer with puzzle-solving elements that takes place in a world where all humans have been eliminated, leaving only animals and a bunch of robot servants.  You, the player, control one of these servant robots named Poncho.  Your goal is to discover who your maker is and why humanity was wiped off the face of the world.

Poncho contains wonderful pixel-art graphics with vibrant colors, which works great for this style of platformer  While it is a two-dimensional platformer, the levels actually contain 3 different layers (think Little Big Planet).  Navigating between these layers is as simple as pressing R1 and L1 to move forward and backward, respectively.  I found myself switching between layers quite often, and this aspect of the game makes the game even more fun.  The one issue I had with the layers was that there were a few times that I needed to make a jump but wasn’t sure which layer I needed to be in to make that jump.  This resulted in a few trial-and-error attempts.

As I mentioned before, Poncho is a semi open-world game. You are pretty much free to go through the levels in any order you want, but in order to get to certain parts you will need to unlock color-coded gates.  These gates can be unlocked with color-coded keys, which you obtain by finding them throughout the world or buying them from robot merchants using gems that you find in the open.  I found myself back-tracking quite a bit to find or buy keys to advance, but not too much.  

The gameplay and controls in Poncho are very good.  Guiding Poncho through the levels is fairly easy.  Both the platforming and puzzle aspects of the game are implemented very well.  One of the few problems I had with Poncho is that there are very few checkpoints in the levels, so when you happen to fall (make a jump on wrong layer), you likely will have to start from the beginning of the level, which can become quite frustrating when you reach a difficult area.  

Overall, Poncho is a fun game with vibrant graphics, solid gameplay and a unique story.  I ran into a few glitches, but nothing serious. The game can become frustrating at times, but nothing that ruins the fun of the game.  If you are looking for a new platformer/puzzler to try out, give Poncho a shot.  I don’t think you will regret it at all.

Score 3 out of 5

Thanks to the publisher for supplying a copy for review