Tiny Galaxy is an action platformer that takes the original concept of a platformer and turns it on its head. You play as a nondescript blue square, Orion, as you race through the "tiny galaxy", jumping from planet to planet to try and retrieve your stolen headphones. With a unique gameplay approach that blends the 2D platformer genre with the gravitational shenanigans found in the likes of Super Mario Galaxy, you're left with a rather nausea-inducing game.
In order for Orion to make it all the way to the end of the galaxy he has the ability to jump between planets and travel through worm holes; this is the basis for how each level unfolds. You start in a cluster of planets that are all within "jumping" distance from one another, and throughout the level there are three Stars that must be found to open the Warp Gate - get all the Stars from each level and you've completed the world.
It sounds simple enough, but this game will take you on a rollercoaster ride through various gaming challenges; even within the very first (of six) worlds you'll see a dramatic range of difficulty. The first level starts you off by having learning the basics. Running, hopping, jumping to another world, all the mechanics are laid out for you. By the time you reach level 4, there is an unforgiving number of moving saw blades and ground spikes to hinder your progress at every turn. The game may look like it could be a 'casual' indie title, but it's extreme difficulty will keep only the most hardcore around after the first world.
When this game is referred to as a dizzying experience, that is no joke. The game's title screen advises that you "Please remember to take a break every 10-15 minutes". This isn't just a suggestion - with the way the camera work is handled, it's mandatory (whether you think you need it or not). The player's character stays dead center of the screen at all times, but as you jump, flip, and spin around planets the camera is doing the same thing to keep up. Even those with iron stomachs and a love for spinning rides at amusement parks can walk away with a sense of vertigo and nausea.
Although the controls seem relatively responsive, and your character is quick to move and jump, the way this is incorporated into the gameplay mechanics can lead to many frustrating scenarios. Often you'll find yourself attempting a short hop over a pair of spikes on the ground. Of course, you need to jump high enough to clear the spikes, but you press the jump button for a fraction of a second too long and you're flung violently to a nearby planet, often falling into a group a spinning saw blades.
Tiny Galaxy looks and feels like an indie title, too; that doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, but in this scenario, it is. Rough edges, clouds that disappear and repeating patterned textures are just the beginning of the visual issues with the game. Playing as a square, single-coloured character may have worked for Super Meat Boy, but the visual design in that case is explained right in that game's title. In the character Orion's case, it just seems like the "easy route", and is poorly executed; the "enemy" that has stolen your headphones at the beginning of the game is just a black circle with a slight gradient.
Not everyone needs to be an artist, but the tools and resources out there can certainly make it easier for a game to be more visually appealing. It lacks polish overall, too; even the menu can be confusing, only because there is no visual feedback. After completing 6 levels of the 10 worlds, there is no indicator showing you what has been completed, while level select buttons look the same whether you've completed them or not. Even when you're tapping buttons on the screen (you are unable to use the controller's D-Pad to select), there's no indication the button you're after has been pressed.
Conclusion
If you're able to get through the wonky nausea-inducing camera work, Tiny Galaxy does at least offer plenty of content. The worlds on offer - which are visually different from each other - contain 10 levels, and each level is more different and unique than the last. Unfortunately, the game is hindered too much by its frustrating difficulty level, an assortment of glitches (our copy lost all progress at one point) and the instant onset of queasiness due to a constantly spinning camera. Due to this it's tough to recommend Tiny Galaxy for all but the most patient gamers with cast-iron stomachs.
Comments 16
And this is why, I'll say it again - the EU eShop is better.
We don't need this "self-published" mess.
The Miiverse community seems to like this game. I wonder how this reviewer will handle Virtual Reality when half the time your talking about being sick.
@Hero-of-WiiU Who knows. I haven't tried out any Virtual Reality. If you check out the game trailer for this game (on this page) you can see the spinning camera that I mention makes me feel queasy.
I was worried that nausea would an issue with this game, given that the trailer is difficult to watch. Bummer, but thanks for braving the sickness for us, Evan.
Is this even a review?! The reviewer's nausea seems to be a very isolated issue with this game. It would be like giving the 3DS a 5/10 in a hardware review because the 3D makes the person nauseous. It's more of a personal issue rather then anything actually being wrong with the product.
@EvanChambers I haven't tried out VR either and I don't want to, that thing has signs of unhealthiness all over it like eye strain. It seems better suited for the arcades.
@Neko_Rukiafan I did mention several glitches, lack of visual polish, and an overly frustrating difficulty, however the nausea didn't seem to be isolated to just me. I had friends and family take a look at the trailer and the game itself, and it was a consensus across the board that the spinning camera made it difficult too play for too long.
@Virus The concept for the game is really fun, and although some of the levels are crazy hard, they're quite unique and some are quite clever. There are just too many bugs, small gripes, and of course the constant spinning, that really detract from the overall experience.
Not a single mention of the music.
I only read reviews on this site, but I must say you all seem to have a bias towards Wii U eshop games. As for this game, I cannot go on amusement park rides due to my weak stomach, this game gives me no problem. There has been no glitches or game crashing for me either. You all should do the old EGM model and have more than one take on games. This is at least a 6/10, maybe higher, but certainly no lower.
I am spurgeonryan on miiverse and own most games if anyone is interested. Also check me out on vgchartz!
Hence why Nintendo struggles in Europe....
I would like to know how far the reviewer got in this game. I also would like to know what his star count is. I would like to see in game screen shots. All the pics in this review are images from the devs website for the game. I have to say that he did not talk much about the 6 world's. Or the boss stages that really change how the game is played. Nor did he talk about the music at all, there are 11 original songs made for this game. Each world has its own music, and nothing was said. I don't think this is a fair review of this game.
And yes I made the music for this game. Find me on Twitter @OnlyMattDesind for more information
Well, I always appreciate hearing about music quality in reviews, but I guess that's more subjective.
@Wiidsguy The music was pretty good, so I apologize for not mentioning it. One thing that I had an issue with was that the music reset upon death, so on some particularly hard levels I heard the first 10 seconds of the song over and over. That's just a game design issue, and nothing wrong with the music.
As for my progress, I made it to World 3, unfortunately not the whole game completed.
I think Evan made an honest review. This game doesn't seem to deserve much more love, unfortunately. It's not his fault that the game is bad.
On the other hand, I agree about all reviews should mention the music as that is an important thing to me and many people.
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