Review: Lovely Planet

A rare gem.

Very rarely does one find a game that so infectiously smile inducing on the surface. Quick Tequila’s Lovely Planet has a quasi-cutesy exterior. But once you get past the first few levels, everything changes.

Underneath that anime-esque veil is a first person platformer that if taken lightly will have you pulling your hair out. Kawaii-desu rapidly becomes kawaii-death as you jump from platform to platform trying to set the best time possible.

Mirror’s Edge fans will be familiar with the frustrations that come from first person speed runs. But it’s more than that, it’s a cleverly designed platformer, with more things that can go wrong while traversing the stages than one would think possible.

Oh they thought of it all, if you think you are a hot shot FPS player. Bring you A game, because if you aren’t quick at the hip this game will let you know. I’m not saying it’s a twitchy arena shooter, I mean your worst enemies are cubes that fire smaller cubes at you and catapults that fire skeet shooting balls. But fraudulence is not an option when playing this game.

Graphically, Lovely Planet proves you don’t have to be technically impressive to be beautiful. A super minimalist motif, with vibrant colors and a decidedly angular approach to level design  make this game extremely fluid and reminiscent of a Playstation 1 or Nintendo 64 title; but with native HD visuals, proving you don’t need to go take out a mortgage to enjoy PC gaming.

Lovely Planet is a game that delivers smiles. It’s charming, it’s fun, it will make you scream obscenities.But is still an extremely rewarding and also addictive game that you can keep coming back to. It doesn’t hurt that the game can also be run on a toaster without noticeable issues.

All in all, it’s a stellar game that offers a unique experience to players of all skill levels and ages.

Lovely Planet is available on PC through Steam for $5.99.

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