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But it’s also the stuff that veers off-path that makes Pikuniku a delight. It’s charmingly compact then, perfectly content with dropping a bit of joy into your life without overstaying its welcome. While it only consists of nine levels, it’s almost like playing a platforming version of Snipperclips, with some fun variation, bringing up split-screen when required, missions that see you both tethered together, or an impromptu competitive race. It’s also worth splitting the Joy-Con with a friend for a standalone local co-op mode. While nothing is exactly designed to challenge you, it’s more about giving you a variety of things to play around with, from a rhythm-action dance-off to boss battles against big robots. Sunshine, it’s a brief and breezy journey, carried by a whimsical score from Calum Bowen. Jumping may be a little too floaty, but for a game that’s more adventure than platformer, traversal feels wonderful.įrom being first mistaken as a ‘ghastly beast’ to joining an underground resistance against Mr.
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Better still, his leg also doubles as a lasso to swing on hooks or race up zip wires. For just a red oval with a pair of lanky legs and a pair of dots for eyes, he’s surprisingly expressive as you bounce him around this childlike 2D world, as he’s capable of rolling around and through tight spaces, or using his long legs to kick switches, boxes or other hapless denizens, whether that’s to solve a puzzle or just for, um, kicks. It’s a sensation you get from the moment you wake up from a cave as Piku, cuteness incarnate with minimalist effort. It just wants you to have a jolly good time. Sunshine handing out ‘free money’ to the villagers of an island in exchange for plundering its natural resources, but with this out of the way, Sectordub doesn’t pause for any deep state commentary. Sure, there’s a greedy pink-faced capitalist calling himself Mr. Men, is marketed by publisher Devolver Digital as a dystopia, it’s hard to resist an eye-roll.įortunately, those fears are unfounded. So when Pikuniku, a seemingly innocent-looking game with characters that look as simplistically drawn as the Mr. Reading skill is needed for all the text, and while the game is pretty easy, younger gamers may still need help with the tougher platforming sections.Maybe I’m just getting old, but it seems almost impossible to look at a seemingly innocent-looking children’s cartoon aesthetic and not wonder if there’s a more sinister or profound message going on underneath. Very mild language, too, as I caught one character saying “Hell Yeah” in the text. You can kick other characters out of the way, but the only things you really destroy are robots. Pikuniku is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence. If you enjoy silly indie puzzle platformers, you may want to check this one out. But even though the game is short, there are gobs of sidequests and even more things to do after the end of the game, so there is a bit of replay value to be had. And while the Loco Roco style graphics won me over, the game is no where near as charming as Loco Roco. The game is also a little short and easy, but it also means that it held my interest all the way though, which rarely happens in games anymore, and it didn’t get repetitive or overstay its welcome. I know that’s just part of the game, but I never liked it when developers make a game more challenging by messing with the play control. But it also makes the play control a little wonky sometimes, too. Your character has wiggly, wobbly legs and because of that, you walk around funny and it leads to some laughable animations.
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I had a few problems with the game, but I still enjoyed it anyway. There’s also a handful of separate two player co-op levels where each player takes control of a red or orange character and must use teamwork to bypass obstacles and solve puzzles to make it to the end of the stage. Press the R button to pull up a list of items and costumes you can wear. You’ll have to talk with certain people to collect items to help you progress. The game has elements of straight up 2-D platformers, but also has puzzle sections, too. You can also use your legs like grappling wires to swing from certain ropes and hooks. Kick to smack objects out of your way, flip switches, and knock away bad guys.
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Another button will make you kick one of your legs. Doing this will let you go faster and sink in water. You can move left and right with the left analog stick, and tuck your legs in and roll around by pressing a button. Pikuniku is an indie 2-D puzzle platformer downloadable on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here. But these folks are being tricked by an evil pink cloud who wants to take over their land, and it’s up to you to save the day.
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After emerging from a cave, you enter a colorful world full of other cute little critters. In this game you are a little red dot with eyes and wiggly legs.
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