Pixboy (NS)

Welcome back to the 90's era of Gameboy inspired gaming! Here with Pixboy, a game born of 90's gaming inspiration, you get a trio of task driven platforming opportunities filled with plenty of secrets, and color palettes to swap between on the fly. As a boy of no name, a boy with a science experiment stolen you must venture forth into four themed locations with several stages each in order to save your secret formula from sticky fingered thieves. You'll face enemies, hazards, a timer, and looting opportunities as you go from start to finish trying to perfect each playthrough. An award given for feats achieved. Bragging rights for the modern retro gamer!

Within Pixboy's world you'll find four themed locations, and four sets of stages setup as a triple threat of challenges. Each containing crown rewards, and badges for collecting all the coins, and popsickles as well as racing against the timer to beat a set speed run record. Along the way you'll face enemy threats, and deadly one hit hazards as you use a basic set of abilities. Those abilities being a basic jump, soaring via parachute, and a slingshot with limited ammo. Choosing the quickest path for the speed run crown is imperative while taking your time, and finding all the coins and collectibles within each stage is equally as important. The reward for your efforts is both coins that can be spent on 24 different color palettes, and found color palettes that will alter the screen's color theme. An optional alteration that can be changed in the middle of a playthrough simply by pressing the right or left shoulder buttons, and cycling through them.

The gameplay loop in Pixboy is simple. Each stage requires playthrough perfection in one of three forms. You'll either be aiming to beat the speed run timer, collecting all the coins, or finding all the hidden popsickles. The latter of the two being a feat that can be done at the same time. At the final stage of each themed location's set is a boss battle where a pursuing boss will chase you through the stage as you dodge pitfalls, traps, and lesser enemy threats. Stages across the board will also become increasingly more complicated, and confusing making path choices more difficult while adding in things like gated areas that require found keys to open as well as switches to open up new areas. Location themes range from a forest to a desert, and even the arctic to name a few. Death is also something to look out for in each playthrough lest you fail the challenges at hand. You have a few hits in each playthrough as well as a few lives. When all lives are lost it is Game Over. Luckily you can select the currently unlocked stage at the main menu, and continue from there.

The Verdict ...

This is definitely a retro homage that stays true to it's inspiration. It both looks, and plays like it came from the 90's Gameboy. Not only does it offer that retro nostalgia factor in spades, but it also offers a proper challenge for those into speed runs or collect-a-thons. Visually, and audibly it's very pleasing. Bringing back oldschool pixel art, and chiptunes from a bygone era. Something I cannot stress enough. There's plenty of secrets to find, and colors to unlock as you go about trying to topple the trio of challenges within each stage. There's also enough replay value to warrant the fair pricing. I think it's worth it if you are a Switch owner! Definitely don't miss it if you are a fan of this type of experience. It gets the Inferno's "Hell Yeah!" seal of approval!