He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
Brothers
fighting each other is nothing new; I remember altercations with my
younger sibling that could have been on World's Wildest Prison Fights (if
such a program were to exist). It is this inevitable squabbling and
sibling rivalry that forms the plot for this retro indie platformer from IMakeGames.
The
titular Rico is the older brother, and is also the bad guy of the
piece, the yin against the nameless younger brother's yang. That he
is black and the hero is white also raises questions about their
parents that only DNA testing could resolve, as well as borderline
racial overtones that are far to heavy to get into here. Anyway, the
brothers have been fighting for all eternity, with their clashes
always resulting in a tie. Unfortunately (for the younger brother
anyway), one day Rico finally emerges victorious, and proceeds to
strip little bro of his powers. This sends the world's balance out of
sync, and Jonny No-name must now work his way through 4 worlds of
back-to-basics 2D platforming in order to kick Rico's ass and restore
the balance.
All
this is irrelevant to the proceeding jumping and coin collecting
antics involved in the genre, but the minimalist storyline actually
adds a little to the experience, especially as Rico turns up at the
end of each world as a boss. Throughout the levels are golden coins,
well they are called crystals but they look (and sound) like coins
from Super Mario Bros. Collecting them all is important as Rico sucks
up the ones you missed in order to gain extra hit points in your
encounters with him.
The 8-bit graphics are basic, but they are colourful, clear, and pleasing to the eye. The little details such as swaying plants and bubbling lava add a sense of life to the stages and make them much more interesting to explore. This is also due to the excellent level design, which offers up enough nooks and crannies filled with more "crystals" to make you want to explore every inch of the stage. This is no Metroidvania though, as levels are fairly linear, but it never claims to be anything more than a 'reach the end of the level' platformer, and is all the more enjoyable for it. The sound effects are of the 'NES' variety, lots of familiar sounding bleeps and bloops, though they fit in well with the retro graphics. The music, however, really lets the game down. While the chiptune tracks themselves aren't bad per say, they really don't fit the atmosphere of the game. There are also only a few tracks played throughout the game so they get annoying fast. I turned off the music and listened to my own during play, and I advise you do the same. The electronic soundtracks from other indie games such as Snapshot and Machinarium were the perfect fit and made the game feel much more absorbing and less frantic. Annoyingly I had some issues getting the game to work with my Xbox 360 controller, having to resort to (the ever useful) joy2key app to use it correctly. Hopefully this will be fixed in a future update.
Enemies
take the form of mines, spikes, bats, instant death lava and
projectile spewing traps. Other enemies are introduced as you
progress, as well as new abilities. A whip is offered up fairly early
on and gives you the means to start fighting back. Another item, and
by far my favourite, is the jet pack. Once collected you can become
airborne for short periods, using thrust which regenerates when you
release the fire button. Using it effectively requires lots of
landing on tight spaces, usually surrounded by mines and such. It is
great fun and adds a perfect level of variety to the usual on-foot
action.
Situated
throughout the levels are checkpoints in the form of tombstones. They
are fairly limited in number, but placed in just the right spots
(usually before a particularly difficult section involving pixel
perfect jumps and multiple enemies), to avoid too much retreading of
covered ground should you die. In fact, the difficulty level is set
just right, it is much more forgiving than either Super Meat Boy or
the bloody chore that is They Bleed Pixels, but it offers up enough
challenge to put your finely honed platforming skills to the test.
Naturally, each world gets more difficult, both in layout and number
of enemies and traps. Skillful jumps over airborne platforms,
avoiding projectiles and flying critters will be required, as well as
coping with disappearing platforms, long underwater sections and jet
pack routes through a plethora of mines.
I
had a blast playing Rico, and I would go as far as to say it is one
of the most enjoyable platformers I have experienced for a while.
Keeping things retro and simple is the main reason for this.
Everything is a pure test of skill and it isn't bogged down with
gimmicks, over the top graphics, disruptive story lines or an insane
difficulty level. It is a pure 8-bit platformer at heart and that is
its strongest point and a perfect example of good gameplay being the
most important part of any game.
The Good
- Great retro aesthetics
- Very enjoyable platforming action
- Challenging and rewarding
- Perfect difficulty level
The
Bad
- The soundtrack doesn't suit the game at all
- Controller issues
Developer : IMakeGames
Availability
: PC, Mac, Android
Price
: £1.99
