Indiana Jones made it look so easy! Jump over the pit, swing from the vine, avoid the spikes and swipe the treasure (or the girl). Sure he had his occasional snake pit or two, but the guy always got the deed done and hardly ever suffered a scratch. The Platformance explorer, on the other hand, probably twisted his ankle stepping off the plane. This poor, bloody, spear sponge was impaled, beheaded, drowned and burnt alive countless times en route to rescuing the gorgeous Grace Belly from the savages who’d like to eat her for dinner.
He might come off as klutzy, but his frequent deaths were warranted. Platformance: Temple Death’s name is no misnomer; this game is packed with an absurd amount of ways to kill our brave adventurer, and I think it’s safe to say I found every one of them. Although I found it challenging keeping his head adhered to his neck, I still had a heck of a time with this 2D platformer, and it’s a total no brainer for any fan of retro gaming.
Anyone who has played Platformance: Castle Pain will feel at home with Temple Death. As with its medieval predecessor, the purpose is to guide the hero through an enormous level packed with more than enough ways to kill an entire litter of kittens. There is also a feature where you can zoom out to view the entire level, which gave me an appreciation for the grand scale of this maze of terror. While there are unlimited lives and frequent checkpoints, there is also a nagging ghost that slowly chases the explorer through the level. It may move glacially slow, but if it catches him, it’s game over, so the sight of him creeping up on the edge of the screen sends the message that it’s time to get serious.
The game does a great job of isolating the exciting moments of platforming games and trimming out everything else. It’s super condensed without the power-ups, exploration or secrets of other games. Those aren’t necessarily bad things by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a nice change of pace to play something that is so unapologetically difficult, but also so well designed that there isn’t too much repetition. It’s like a box of Lucky Charms with all marshmallows.
Platformance boasts three difficulty levels, but I found anything beyond the normal setting to be far too frustrating. When I finished the game on my second play, I was greeted with the victory screen that let me know my poor guy perished 77 times on his heroic quest. My attempt at running through on a harder difficulty level was met with twenty deaths before the first checkpoint. Nothing short of absolute perfection will suffice, and frankly, I don’t have the time or patience required. Even though I stuck to the baby pool, I still had a lot of fun, and the achievements and flopwards (which are like achievements for futility) and leaderboards added a bit of replay value.
Although it may have stuck a bit too close to the formula, I still really enjoyed Platformance: Temple Death. The jungle setting evokes fond memories of Indiana Jones and Pitfall and is the perfect setting this challenging, but addictive platforming gem.
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Platformance: Temple Death was was provided for review by Magiko Gaming and is available for 80 MS points ($1). You can download a free demo on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
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