Potentially great game marred by too many levels of frustration
This is Gaming Cypher’s PC review of 2D platformer Poncho by publisher Rising Star Games.
Upon first trying out Poncho, we immediately were drawn to the adorable protagonist robot and pixel art background. The gameplay consisted of leaping through environment layers of foreground and background, which we soon found out did not always work well unless we were perfectly aligned at the perfect time, so frustration soon started to set in.
Specifically, more times that we care to mention, we leaped onto a platform that we thought was there, but actually was not. The refreshing aspect of the game of testing out your skill of jumping through layers, became an instant death and the demise of a potentially great game.
Our biggest complaint, though, was the exploration portion of the game, which is the only way to progress. The game is peppered throughout with hidden keys, that you must collect. However, since I was paying so much attention to being able to maneuver the layers and landing safely, I did not pay much attention to hidden keys. At that point, I did not feel like going back to try to find the hidden keys, as I did not want to try to maneuver the jumps all over again.
I must mention, though, that when the timing was right and I accomplished perfect jumps, Poncho was great fun. I would really love to try it out again if the progress did not completely halt to a stop at some points because of having to restart levels from the beginning over and over again.
Sadly, we are hesitant to recommend a buy for Poncho and rate it at 3.5/5
Here is the launch trailer:
Poncho is available for PS4, PC (Steam), Mac, Linux, and a bit later on PS Vita and Nintendo Wii U.
I'm a published author and proud US Army veteran who happens to be a gamer, so I decided to combine the two and love every minute of it! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments and I'll be sure to get back to you.
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