Platforms Unlimited Review

Platforms Unlimited takes the formula of The Impossible Game and similar titles: geometric shapes thrust into platforming environments filled with adversity. This game's twist? Procedurally-generated levels. This immense variety serves as the core of an incredibly well-made game.

Everything in the game is designed to test the player: with platforming sections with features such as narrow spaces to jump through, repetitive platforms that require a timing rhythm, and more, this is not for the faint of heart. The physics system can feel very floaty, offering players the ability to jump high in the air; and learning how high to jump, not just when to jump, is important.

What Platforms Unlimited really does exceptionally is offer the ability to dive back in right away after dying. The game is very challenging, but it's not frustrating because a new game starts within a second, with the only delay popping up when a challenge is completed, notifying the player of what they've accomplished and the reward they've received for their victory. I also appreciate that the game lets players share their top 10 times and when they were scored, instead of just one top time.

The daily levels mode provides not only three different reasons to come back to the game, but also serves as an odd sort of practice mode. See, the main game mode's procedural generation makes it difficult to practice a particular section. The daily mode, with repetition of specific sections, lets players get a feel for the various sections of the game in order to get better at them. Also, it's nice to 'win' at something in this challenging game!

The currency system is not some in-app purchase malarkey - while power-ups can be unlocked, and some may take some time to unlock, there's no way to buy extra credits. They have to be earned. There are also cosmetic unlocks, including the vaunted hot dog trail behind the protagonist square. The right to buy it has to be earned by completing challenges, so don't just expect to be weinering it up right away.

The visuals perhaps could be a bit crisper - everything's kind of soft-edged, and it feels like with much sharper visuals, this game could look great. Otherwise it feels kind of low-fi in its current state. Of course the visuals do a good job at not being distracting, either.

Platforms Unlimited is just an all-around well-made game. It provides challenge without frustration, and plenty of reason to keep coming back. Platforming fans would do well to pick this up.