Typically I will get requested to evaluate a recreation that does not instantly really feel as if it actually falls inside my wheelhouse. In any respect. And I’ve to confess, as a lot as I do love the look of Ruffy and the Riverside, with its 1980’s kids-TV-show-styled characters, replete with seen marker strokes from having been colored in, I undoubtedly felt(tip) as if we had been destined to rub one another the unsuitable manner.
And this, my mates, is what occurs while you fall into the lure of judging a you-know by its whats-it, as what’s really here’s a pleasant 3D platformer within the now classical ‘late 90s/early 00s’ fashion. Sure, barring some fairly gentle efficiency hiccups (on each Change and Change 2), this one is nicely price your time, and doubly so in the event you occur to be a youthful gamer, or a wretched outdated has-been (moi) who simply desires to really feel the enjoyment of millennium-era gaming one final time. It is a first attempt from Zockrates Laboratories as nicely, so hats off to the builders.
You see, Ruffy and the Riverside has received a really intelligent trick up its sleeve. Reasonably than simply being a easy tribute to the knock-off 3D platformers us oldies had been blasted with within the wake of the success of that 3D Mario fella and Crash Bandicoot (if I begin naming extra mascots, we’re gonna be right here all day), and as an alternative of copying and pasting (related!) their homework, Ruffy brings the flexibility to rework his environs by…await it…copying and pasting textures, corresponding to water or sand, over each other to unravel puzzles, traverse environs and save the day. Hooray for Ruffy!
Because it seems, an evil alien dice of types referred to as Groll has appeared and stolen a bunch of very highly effective marbles that you’re going to have to get again as a result of they’ve made him proper bonkers. As Ruffy, and with the assistance of his genuinely enjoyable bee assistant Pip, you will additionally want to gather a bunch of letters from the massive ‘RIVERSIDE’ billboard above the sport’s vibrant hub city that your new fool nemesis has simply blown up. So, Ruffy, you are actually the chosen one. God save us all.
Ruffy, for as innocent as he appears to be like, can actually get about. He is received a stamina gauge which matches down slowly and fills up actually quick, so he can run just like the wind throughout the sport’s vastly nostalgic 3D world with out stopping for a lot of a break. He can climb up something, as long as you have pasted some vines there, and his default bounce (with a slick bee-assisted hover) lets you clamber round rooftops and look at each nook and cranny of what’s, and particularly from a small workforce on its first recreation, a really spectacular world to look at.
Now, I am unsure if the draw distance, which is sort of poor typically in how its fog immediately envelops and regurgitates complete environs within the background as you progress round, is totally due to efficiency limitations, or if it has been finished for impact. That is how on level a lot of the remainder of this recreation is, you see, that it is received me doubting that it is simply been allowed to be this manner – however regardless, it is a glad coincidence that it is considered one of my favorite issues concerning the look of the journey.
It actually does give the entire thing the texture of a type of somewhat janky, barely held collectively types of 3D romps all of us performed a ton of many years in the past. Besides this one is nice on just about all fronts. As you progress round Riverside you’ll be able to even see joins within the surroundings at instances, skinny black strains on the horizon, and the assembly factors of polygons, all that type of factor. I adore it. And I am simply gonna go forward and assume they did it for the stainless vibes.
So you have received this somewhat massive primary space of recreation world to discover, with a couple of massive cities stuffed with amusing NPCs – there is a first rate quantity of snark and silliness within the writing for older avid gamers – after which the sport opens as much as incorporate a number of portals that you have to journey by way of in an effort to discover these pesky letters. There’s a powerful quantity of selection in these zones, a few of that are surprisingly massive, though there’s nothing totally shocking within the environmental modifications from the same old lava to ice, forests, deserts and so forth. Even so, unlocking the following one and never understanding what it is gonna be is my favorite half!
Transferring by way of these areas, the factor that impresses time and time once more is simply how well-implemented the copy and paste conceit is. It is simply a lot enjoyable to mess with, and though it does not provide you with totally free reign – there are some guidelines to all of it – it is nonetheless very versatile and, most significantly, one thing I hadn’t bored with by the tip of my eight hours with the sport.
Combining the enjoyable of those powers with Ruffy’s spinning, crate-smashing, Crash-styled spin assaults, and his boundless power as he strikes round ranges (or races by way of the sport’s haybale racing mini video games), and you have one thing that simply feels nice to play. Sure, typically it may be just a little finicky to intention at small textures you need to change – and it is a disgrace we do not have gyro for fine-tuning right here – however general it simply works!
Much more spectacular than this although, and my absolute favorite factor about what Zockrates has given us, is simply how densely packed the areas are with puzzles, references to outdated video games, and issues to do and gather. There are a number of classes of collectible to get busy hoovering up, and a good mixture of puzzle sorts, a few of which youthful avid gamers might have just a little hand with every so often. Certainly, and I am not too proud to confess it, I used to be stumped a couple of instances on this one earlier than realising, for instance, simply what was wanted to be finished to defeat a specific shark in a pool (flip him into iron so he sinks, there is a free tip).
I like how they’ve stolen the 2D sections from Tremendous Mario 3D World wholesale, too. It’s kind of cheeky, honest sufficient, and though they maybe do not work out or play fairly as slickly as Nintendo’s efforts (understandably, maybe), it is simply enjoyable to see the influences being so proudly trumpeted at instances. In all places you look in Ruffy and the Riverside, there’s one thing to do…a number of issues to do, in reality, and that is precisely the way it needs to be to maintain youthful gamers entertained.
Now, detrimental stuff. On Change 1, the framerate struggles at instances, largely when the sport transitions into new areas on-the-fly. Transferring seamlessly internationally comes at a value, it appears. It is a disgrace, and though they’ve not spoiled my enjoyment a lot, they’re there and it would be very nice to have a patch to type this (and so as to add the outdated gyro).
For Change 2 gamers, the efficiency points current on Change 1 do carry over to the newer console, and swapping between the 2 (dangerous puns flying out of me immediately), there’s little or no distinction aside from maybe a slight enchancment in loading instances.
Enemies, too, are poorly designed. There aren’t a complete lot of them, fortunately, and I might counsel that the puzzles, somewhat than bashing foes, are the principle level right here, so once more it is not likely affected the enjoyable I’ve had. So, in the event you’re into the vibe so far, simply bear in mind that smashing stuff and doing puzzles, racing round on hay bales and swapping out water for lava to see what occurs, or opening doorways by pasting flames onto candles, is the place the enjoyable is at.
Conclusion
Ruffy and the Riverside is an pleasant return to the colorful 3D platforming romps of the late Nineties, and it is one which brings its personal intelligent concept to the desk, somewhat than simply merely copy/pasting everybody else’s homework. With nods to Mario, Zelda, Crash Bandicoot and extra, ranges jam-packed stuffed with enjoyable puzzles and the simple, breezy nature of Ruffy’s copy-pasting skills on the coronary heart of all of it, this is among the higher odes to this type of caper that I’ve performed and, efficiency points apart, a really spectacular debut as well.
