Life of Pixel: The Good and Bad of Retro
(If you would rather watch a video review, I've included one for your viewing pleasure. Keep in mind that I tend to ramble in video format. If you want to avoid that, go ahead and continue reading!)
Conceptually, I loved the idea of progressing through different eras of technology. In reality, however, I realized the slow progression between consoles serves as a double edged sword. As much as I enjoyed exchanging the greyscale of the ZXBI for the Amiga's well rounded color palette, I would have preferred to skip the painfully bright blues of the BBC Micro. And while it was gratifying when the screen finally moved with my character, I wish it had done that all along. Many people will argue I'm missing the point of this game's "nostalgia" factor. I disagree. I've played on some of these systems (most notably the GameBoy), and I appreciated the replication. I just didn't appreciate it enough to overlook the flaws associated with gaming in the eighties and nineties. Although I imagine your personal experience with older consoles will affect your feelings on Life of Pixel's main gimmick, I can't help but recognize how much gaming has progressed since the days of the SNES.
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| Can you find the differences in these two photos? |
I'll debate the merits of the retro aesthetic all day long, but I can't deny the excellent gameplay. Platformers live and die by their controls, and Life of Pixel handles with grace. I never blamed the double jump for a death, nor did I ever feel as though my character wasn't responding to my controller inputs. I'll admit I dislike how the player cannot jump after walking off a ledge, but this affects gameplay far less than I initially expected. I'm glad the controls operate well; this game's high difficulty would have been overly frustrating without them. Life of Pixel models itself off games like Super Meat Boy and 1001 Spikes (although, to be fair, it is significantly easier than the latter). The first three consoles only offer a modest challenge, but the difficulty soon spikes. I've died dozens of times on a single level, and many of the later levels have only been completed by two or three people. That said, this isn't a bad thing because the game design feels harsh but fair. Still, Life of Pixel isn't for everyone.
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| Don't let the cute pixels fool you—you're going down. |
My only issue with the gameplay lies in the way the player must pick up all of the collectibles to beat a level. In the ZXBI and Atari 2600, you will need no more than a dozen or so gems. As you move into the more advanced consoles, however, you'll need sixty or seventy gems to complete a level. While the gems tend to be placed in obvious locations, few things are more frustrating than realizing you forgot a single collectible. This doesn't happen too often, but I still would have preferred the levels to have been solely about completion.
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| I'm number one! LiteraryVideoGam is...wait, what? Damn it. |
Your mileage with Life of Pixel will vary, although most people will—at the very least—enjoy this experience for an hour or two. That said, if you are a hardcore gamer with a taste for retro graphics, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not picking this one up.
GOOD
+Good controls
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-Frustrating collection system
-Retro aesthetic often weakens gameplay
Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this game from the developer.
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