Upon launching a Switch game you don’t expect to see a ZX Spectrum loading screen, but that’s precisely what happens with Triple Eh? Ltd’s Lumo. It’s entirely appropriate for this isometric platformer, however, as the 8-bit computer featured a number of classic examples of the genre. As well as being fun to play, the likes of Alien 8, Head Over Heels and Knight Lore were visually impressive for the time, allowing movement in a 3D space in an age of left-to-right or top-down four-way games.
Fast-forward a few decades and movement in a 3D space is nothing remarkable, and indeed with its fixed camera angle Lumo feels quite limited at times, giving good reasons for the isometric view falling out of favour over the years. Gameplay-wise it entertains, however, with ledges and platforms to jump between, hazards to avoid and puzzles to solve.
Largely the work of Gareth Noyce (music: Dopedemand, art: Paul Large) Lumo is a love letter to games of the past (including some from other genres) and is a fun adventure across over 400 rooms. As well as homages to past games, there are a number of other (mostly British) references, with the achievements including nods to magazines (Zzap!64, Mean Machines) and TV shows (Bullseye, The Crystal Maze).
The game begins with you being sucked into the computer world (a la Tron) due to a malfunctioning “SpecEye” and you must then seek out four items to allow you to return home. Of course these are not just lying around in a convenient spot, and collecting each will require the discoveries of keys, pushing of buttons and flicking of switches as well as overcoming various challenges. Things start off simply enough, however, with your initial task being to seek out a powerup to provide a superior jumping ability to the small hop you begin with.
In these opening moments you walk through rooms, getting used to your movement and the camera perspective and negotiating a couple of hazards. The firebars are simply walked around and although there are some moving platforms, these get close enough to allow you to walk from one to another. Once your jumping has improved the challenge increases, though generally at a steady pace.
There are three control methods in the game that affect how your character moves (is down for downwards movement or diagonal?) and these can be tried out before you begin the game to make sure you’ve picked one you’re comfortable with. Can you get an achievement to pop up whilst in this training dojo? Sure you can! As well as a button to jump there’s also one to use your wand, although this is not collected until you are quite a way into the game.
Though sticking to the isometric view of its forebears, Lumo’s visuals have a modern sheen to them. There’s nothing spectacular, but it moves smoothly and there’s detail in the environments and good lighting effects as well as for things such as fire and laser beams. There’s simple but effective snow in some rooms and reflections in ice also work well.
The perspective can cause issues, however, with missed jumps and hazards walked into due to either partially obscured action or you simply misjudging where something is; leaps from ropes are particularly tricky to judge. It should be stressed that this is not a frequent occurrence and often noting your shadow helps with tricky manoeuvres. Some rooms allow you to press the shoulder buttons to rotate the room slightly to get a different view on things, but rarely in the rooms where this ability would be useful.
Chilled breezy music plays throughout the game, as well as some mysterious tracks too. One amusing moment early in the game has you step into a lift, the game’s usual soundtrack making way for some elevator music (“hold my hand very tightly, very tightly…) as you travel to the next floor. Regular music returns whilst you go about your business, with the cheesy track resuming as you climb back in to make your return trip (“sugar honey I love you…)”. Sound effects also work well with echoing footsteps, crumbling bricks, running water and flickering flames adding to the atmosphere.
There’s good variety in the platforming with jumps not just across gaps, but onto moving platforms, crumbling blocks and platforms that switch around as you land on them, requiring some quick footwork. Later on there are platforms that are only visible when using your wand. Aside from jumping there are spikes, flames and a few enemies to avoid and occasionally the game will offer something a bit different such as a skiing or minecart section.
One thing the game does well is introduce these new challenges steadily. For example there are metal balls you ride atop in some moments where your controls are inverted. On your first encounter with these you must simply get from one side of the room to the other, next time you must stick to a pathway and after that there’s a small moving platform where you fight against the ball’s momentum to stay on.
These small challenges in the rooms can get tough, but luckily you have unlimited lives in which to attempt them; failure simply warping you back to where you entered. The game gets quite addictive when you narrowly miss out on making it through a room, as you go again to try and fix that small mistake you made. The exception to this is a large chunk of the icey rooms, which get quite infuriating. The slippy surface is something to keep an eye on as you slide towards the edges of walkways, but then you have moving walkways and platforms. Then smaller platforms and things trying to knock you off those platforms. Generally there’s a sense of accomplishment from clearing a tricky room, but in the winter death land there’s just relief.
Aside from negotiating hazards, Lumo will on occasion throw a puzzle at you, including ones where you push blocks onto switches or find a way to flick a switch that is high up on the wall. This may be to get you out of the current room or to unblock the path in another. Keys also feature in some rooms, then requiring you to backtrack to where you saw that locked door.
There’s plenty of puzzle and platform action to keep you entertained as you work through the game, but there’s also some optional extras to seek out such as rubber ducks and coins. A number of cassette tapes (like games came on back in the day) are hidden throughout, usually found by noticing a ledge you can climb up and then hopping over the room’s wall.
Finding all of these will keep completionists busy, but more enjoyable are the minigames that are hidden in Lumo. Offering a change of pace, these are based on games of yesteryear and include mini-challenges inspired by the likes of Zaxxon, Marble Madness and Nebulus. There’s six in total and although they cannot be replayed, the variety of styles offered makes for fun diversions from the main (also fun) game.
Lumo is hard to put down and you may find yourself playing for long stretches due to the fun provided by the various puzzles and platforming challenges. However, as you can save and quit at anytime it is also suitable for quick bursts of play, making it a good title when out and about in handheld mode as you tackle as many (or few) rooms as you have time for.
Once cleared there’s replay value in the game not only from it being an enjoyable adventure, but also from trying to get the various achievements and collecting all of the ducks, coins and cassette tapes. If 100%ing a game is not your bag and you’d just prefer a tougher challenge, then the game also features an “Old School” mode that has a finite number of lives (more can be collected) and does not allow saving. There’s also a timer to keep track of how long your exploration is taking you. Upon death you are treated to a screen informing you of how many rooms you explored, distance travelled, ducks/cassettes collected and how many horrible deaths you suffered. There’s an online leaderboard for this mode but at the time of writing this just shows an “Unable to find a Leaderboard!” message. There’s still fun to be had from trying to improve on your own performance however, whether that's looking to collect more items or just visit more rooms.
Conclusion
Lumo provides a modern isometric platformer, offering (as you'd expect) improved audio-visual presentation over the classics of the genre, whilst still providing the same kind of entertainment. There's fun from spotting the references to old and obscure games (like Jack the Nipper) and other things ("Take your brain to another dimension. Pay close attention"), but it's the gameplay that's the biggest source of entertainment here. Many rooms serve as mini challenges as you attempt to clear obstacles and avoid dangers, flick a switch to activate something somewhere else or perhaps stop for something that requires a bit more thought, such as pushing mirrors about to redirect some laser beams. Occasionally the fixed camera makes progress through a room more difficult than it should be, and there are moments in the ice zone where the game moves from "tough-but-fair" to "ruddy annoying". There's also the old school mode for those seeking a stern challenge, or there's fun to be had replaying the regular mode as you go seeking out more hidden items and bonus games.
For retro kicks with a modern feel, or for those curious about this genre and the experience it offers, this is certainly an enjoyable adventure.
Comments 63
Gonna be hard to resist this one. I'll take a closer look later.
Added to wish list. My wish list is pretty big at this time.
Christmas time!
Can’t wait to play this. Good times ahead
Might check this one out. Didn't know anything about it but this might be up my alley.
I've tried a couple of isometric platformers in the past and I could never get used to the controls/perspective. Something about it makes my brain go haywire and I tend to fall to my doom more often than I would like to admit. Maybe it will be different in this game, but I'd have to play a demo first before I'd ever buy one of these games again.
Man now I really want this but with Christmas presents now taking precedence will just have to crank up the old amstrad to stave off the craving.
@16bitdave Probably better to just delete it from your 'Don't Wish List'.
Had this ordered for a while now, £23 from Amazon.
Looks significantly better than Ludo.
Superb game, got it on PS Plus a few months ago and had a ton of fun with it. Definitely recommend this one!
Never heard of this game, but I saw the words "Triumphant Return" in the tagline and was hoping it was going to be an isometric platformer. Actual Speccy references though, wow! This sounds like a winner.
Unlimited lives are a treat for this genre too; since I guess we're past the age of POKEs now, huh?
May check this out sometimes after the holiday.
Sold!
This looks great! When will the parade of excellent indie titles cease, haha.
@NintendoFan4Lyf
Solstice was and still is a masterpiece
Sounds interesting, might need a video of gameplay, and a cheap price as I'm incredibly poor before I jump aboard
There's just too many games I want at the moment. Good thing the back of my Switch has a crack in it so I have to send it for repair/replacement...
When Knight Lore, the game Lumo pays tribute to, came out in 1984, it was so exciting and ahead of its time. Even the lovely, big cardboard box the game came in smacked of quality. Graphically, nothing came close to it (at least on my humble ZX Spectrum) and it felt thrilling to be able to wander around in a (pseudo) 3D space. I've got Lumo on my PC, and it pays wonderful homage to both Knight Lore and its spiritual successor, Head over Heels. Must get this now it is on Switch.
Love puzzle games. Might be worth getting.
That said, this game makes me massively nostalgic for The Adventures of LOLO. We need, need, NEED a new version!
I've had my eye on this one for a while. Being the gaming dinosaur that I am, this is a must buy. Just need to clear some backlog first.
This appears to be $30 retail but $20 digital in the US. I thought games had to be the same price for either format, right? Isn’t that the excuse for Little Barbarian and other similar games being $30 digital?
@NintendoFan4Lyf @Cruznbaby85
Does anyone remember the sequel to Solstice, 'Equinox'?
Judging from the pictures, Lumo isn't exactly isometric. There's depth in the picture. Boxes that are further away look smaller than the ones that are closer. I believe it's more of a natural 3D perspective than an isometric one.
Sorry for getting too technical...
I don’t know...I’ve never played an isometric platformer before. Looks kind of cool but I’ll probably use my money for another game. I still haven’t bought golf story yet!
@OorWullie I’m ancient too and have been keeping an eye on this title. I skimmed to the score and this game is now at the top of my loooong wish list!
Hope I’m not just looking through the rose tinted glasses at Knight Lore etc but I used to love those games .
@Robotron2084 google Spectrum Vega plus and I Diego go for a long and tortured story about this very idea! I’m a backer . Been waiting two years now ...
I did it on Steam and I found it rather imprecise gameplay side.
Collisions are not correctly dealed with.
Looks better than I thought. but i have to be an adult....resist!
@Robotron2084 There have been a few attempts, but they all have flaws. Vega+ went to development hell (as @KIRO mentioned), Recreated Spectrum lost its licensing, the Spectrum Next is fairly pricey and much more than a plug and play unit.
I have the original Vega, and it's pretty good if you don't care about having a keyboard but it really is just for gaming. It's a little controller pre-loaded with 1000 games that you plug into a TV. No HDMI. It gets the job done if all you want is a Speccy gaming fix.
It'd be cool if we got a Speccy that's like the C64 Mini coming out next year.
I get that the aesthetic of the game is you're a light in the darkness, hence the name Lumo but, I personally just don't like so much darkness in a game. Color wise I like bold, beautiful briliant things like Mario, Zelda and the like. Indie wise Wonder Boy and Oceanhorn are really luminescent. I do, however, wish I had a fondness for systems like the Amiga and ZX. Never got my hands on one but, maybe one day.
@VinnieMii I used to rent Equinox when I was a kid. It was difficult and freaked me out a little. Of course I was a little kid and it might have been above my head.
I have been watching this one ever since I saw it on the Xbox Store, now that it is on the Switch I think the time to get it may have finally come, I am normally not too keen on isometric games but there is something about the art style of this one that I really like.
I really enjoyed this... Until the ice. Then I was done.
As soon as Amazon decides to ship this, I will have it.
Solstice on nes deserves a mention here as this game appears to be seriously modelled upon it.
One of the games I wish I could squeeze myself into, if I had the time between all the other new Switch games. I was never a fan of the old Speccy games, I mean I liked them but I never got far, they were just too hard. But this modernized isometric adventure is very high on my wishlist, looks very fun.
I could still argue that Knightlore on the 48k(!) ZX Spectrum is the greatest game ever made.
(To be fair my memory isn't what it was. I can't actually remember what it was, but I think it used to be better.)
It was genuinely a new thing, never done before, a total step change - seeing it, playing it was a wonder. Even now, it looks charming. I'm sure there must be YouTube vids of it.
I feel genuinely lucky to have lived through the step changes in games, from Space Invaders and Asteroids to Donkey Kong at the arcades.
The moments that made me go 'wow' at home, think "this is a while new thing", drifting in and out of gaming then playing Tomb Raider, Gran Tourismo, Metal Gear Solid. And now - up for debate, obviously - Breath of the Wild.
So yeah, well up for this game. A tad pricey though.
Mmm yeah, different times...
https://youtu.be/nzL9ISnFUV0
State of the art back in the day though!
@Shantephan this game isn’t really isometric so you may be okay.
@roboshort What do you mean it isn't really isometric? all the screenshots look to me like that and even the review says it is.
@Shantephan Isometric projection doesn't have a vanishing point so objects don't get smaller as they move 'further away'. In this game, the size of the objects projected on the screen varies with distance, so it isn't really isometric. I'm guessing that is your problem with isometric projection....
Sounds like another winner. Although not my usual cup of tea, I would consider it if I weren't already playing several other games.
@roboshort Huh, that could very well be it. Thanks, I am more willing to try out Lumo now.
@roboshort Can you give an example of a game that uses an actual isometric projection? It seems to me that most games I can think of that are described in reviews as having an isometric POV aren't truly isometric, in that objects do get smaller with distance. For instance Diablo III is described in reviews as isometric, but isn't really. This article also seems to confirm that this misuse of "isometric" in describing games is more the rule than the exception. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isometric_graphics_in_video_games_and_pixel_art
If I remember right Diablo 1 uses isometric projection. Sonic 3D Blast for the Genesis also does. And Qbert.
@roboshort Thanks, never played Diablo 1. Actually, reading around more I see you're right, there were lots of games that used actual isometric views, or at least as close as technically possible. It also seems to have been fairly common for games to be called "isometric" when they really just have a fixed overhead-from-an-angle camera view.
@bilboa
Here are some examples:
Zaxxon
Qbert
Pac-Mania
Captain Skyhawk (NES)
Sim City 2000
Solstice (NES)
Equinox (SNES)
Why did I get a sudden flashback of Q*bert from looking at this? Hey Hamster, can you throw that in your Arcade Archives to-do list please...?
I would totally get this game. I got it on Steam, and I love the game! Thing is, I'm sick of these high priced Switch games, especially when I already own it on another system that I got it at a cheaper price. I'll just wait until there's a sale for this one!
@MeloMan Seeing as Hamster is a Japanese developer, I'm not too sure if Japan got QBert on an arcade cabinet. I've seen Famicom and Super Famicom QBert games, but I don't think Gottlieb managed to get their arcade games into Japan.
Plus, if you need to know, this is a throw back to isometric platformers that were huge in the MicroComputer era that Rare, or Ultimate Play the Game as they were called back then, created KnightLore, the first Isometric Platformer on the ZX Spectrum. Since then, the Speccy, C64, and Amstrad would receive a bunch of Isometric Platformers such as Head over Heels, Chimera, 3D Ant Attack, and Batman! Yes, Batman had a Isometric Plaformer too. A few more would be made for the Mega Drive and SNES before the Playstation, Saturn, and N64 came in, introducing 3D platformers that made the Isometric plaformers of old obsolete.
You get to the present day where retro gaming is pretty big, where newer games have retro influences, and you receive a brand new Isometric Platformer by the name of Lumo!
@Robotron2084 Oh yeah, I hear you. Plug and Play frees you from load times, too! And your Ouya (or a Raspberry Pi) would do the trick cheaply for sure. The revivals (other than the Next) are more for if you like the collectibility of having a "new" Speccy product.
Although I like it, the Vega is definitely not perfect. Like all Speccy revivals to date, it's a bit pricey for what you get. But it does have a virtual keyboard, which may or may not be to your taste (works fine for strategy games and sports managers, but a little rough for text adventures).
You can also add games (any games with Kempston controls work fine, or you can program your own keymaps/tell it to run in 48 or 128k/add POKEs/etc.). I find it a cool little device just to be able to follow the Speccy homebrew scene — usually a few new games every month!
The C64 Mini is supposed to launch next year for a more reasonable price of $70USD. It's going to have 64 games pre-loaded. No idea if you can add more, but you can access BASIC to do type-ins.
@World
I'm really psyched to hear that there's a C64 plug n play coming out. This is the first I'm hearing of it. I grew up with one before I had an NES. Some of the games on there were superior versions of games that came out on NES (Lifeforce, Spy Hunter, Paperboy, Qbert, etc). Last Ninja was also one of the better games on there (another isometric game while we're on that subject.)
Of course, there was also 'Impossible Mission'....."AaaaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaaaaaa"
@VinnieMii Thanks! Zaxxon brings back memories. One of the first games I got into as a kid.
@bilboa
That's probably the first in video game history to have an isometric view. Also the first to have shadows.
@VinnieMii I can believe it. I remember the 3D effect being the most impressive thing about it to me, since all the other games we had didn't even try to look 3D.
@VinnieMii Yeah, I only saw news of it recently too but it's apparently set for 2018 release. It's a miniature model C64 with HDMI hookup, a controller and USB keyboard support.
Full list of the games is here (it has Impossible Mission I & II but no Last Ninja trilogy): https://thec64.com/games/
@World
Awesome, thanks for the link. I see a lot of the Epyx games made it on the list. I was also hoping to see Pitfall II on there (A Metroidvania style game that came out before there was Metroid and Castlevania). Hopefully, it's possible to add more games.
@VinnieMii Yep, the Speedball games and the Epyx "Games" series were my must-haves on this list! No word on if you can add games yet (that I know of), but similar devices have allowed adding games so this would be a cool feature (especially with some noticeable gaps in this lineup).
Pre-ordered this from Amazon (US). Was supposed to get release date delivery. Still waiting on shipping confirmation. Looking forward to getting to play it whenever it does arrive.
Is this like Captain Toad?
Nice review.
A remake of Head Over Heels is now on Switch too.
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