Last year, Yacht Club Games's Shovel Knight blew our minds as the ideal example of an indie retro platform game. It perfectly captured the pristine controls, level design, and 8-bit graphics of classic Capcom platformers, and if we didn't know its official launch date it would have been easy to see it as a forgotten gem of the NES era. In a very crowded market of retro games by small developers, it stood out. GalaxyTrail's Freedom Planet ($14.99) didn't stand out when it debuted around the same time as Shovel Knight, but it absolutely deserved to. This PC-only retro platformer is to games like Sonic 3 and Rocket Knight Adventures what Shovel Knight is to Mega Man and DuckTales. It looks and feels like a game made by Treasure, and it can stand proudly alongside 16-bit Sega royalty. Freedom Planet is a must-buy PC game for anyone who fondly remembers the days of the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. It's currently PC-only, but a Nintendo Wii U ($900.00 at Amazon) version will be coming out in August.
Cute and Colorful
Freedom Planet is colorful sci-fi adventure with a distinct anime style. The visuals are a mish-mash of high technology and fantasy, with a strong streak of Chinese feudalism running through it. Warring city-states filled with panda people, cat people, and fox people are at each other's throats, and an insect-like alien warlord looks to take advantage of the chaos to steal a powerful energy source. Lilac (a dragon person), Carol (a cat person), and Milla (a bunny person) are recruited by a mysterious turtle-duck named Torque to save the world. It's pretty silly, and would be right at home in any 16-bit platformer, if any of them were fully voice-acted.
Incidentally, the voice acting is thorough and comprehensive, but it's also pretty amateurish. The actors have plenty of potential and loads of enthusiasm, but they're clearly inexperienced, and they're not helped by the dialogue. I'd love to see them return to the microphones with some more practice and better writing to work with. If the voice acting really bothers you, you can simply play Classic Mode, which presents the entire game without cut scenes.
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Ultimate NES Remix (for Nintendo 3DS)
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Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions (for PC)
Lots of Variety
The three playable characters, Lilac, Carol, and Milla, have different styles of play. Lilac is similar to Rocket Knight, with a midair directional dash that lets her bounce off of surfaces and hit enemies. Carol is scrappier, but she can climb up walls like Mega Man X and can collect gas cans to summon a motorcycle that lets her move very fast and plow directly through obstacles. Milla is effectively a magic user. She can fly with her ears and create throwable green blocks and energy shields. On the surface, they hit the same notes that Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails did in Sonic 3 and Knuckles, but their mechanics are more complex and interesting.
Why You Should Game on a PC
Each of Freedom Planet's 14 levels are large, colorful, and varied. They almost all have Sonic the Hedgehog-style loops, ramps, and corkscrews. Each level also introduces its own unique elements, such as disappearing blocks, colored switches, and keys. These elements sound like basic platforming obstacles, but they're so well-crafted and diverse that they always feel fresh and don't overstay their welcome.
Distance Run
With three characters and 14 levels, you can easily sink 12 to 15 hours into Freedom Planet before you replay a stage/character combination. It's a surprisingly long game that keeps its momentum going. Each character's campaign even mixes up level order and placement to keep the game feeling fresh.
Freedom Planet is clearly a labor of love for 16-bit platformers, and that comes through in every aspect of the graphics and gameplay. The sprite art is immaculate, edging out games like Gunstar Heroes and Sonic 3 and Knuckles in detail and speed, without ever breaking the impression that you're playing a lost Sega Genesis game. It's like Shovel Knight in that respect, taking advantage of modern technology and tools to get the most out of a game, while sticking to a very specific framework to evoke a certain type of classic game. Freedom Plant even intentionally slows down for a few moments when massive bosses explode, nostalgically replicating 16-bit systems' inability to handle multiple, fast-moving sprites.
Just Buy It
Freedom Planet is a criminally underrated game and a shining example of just how good a retro platformer can feel even in 2015 if it was made by a team that knows and loves the source material. It stands alongside Shovel Knight as a must-have game for anyone who remembers playing games on cartridges. Freedom Planet earns our Editors' Choice for capturing the essence of classics like Sonic 3 and Knuckles and Rocket Knight Adventures so perfectly.
If you have a hunger for retro 16-bit games, GalaxyTrail's Freedom Planet is the title for you. This colorful sci-fi platformer feels like a forgotten NES gem.
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