Two things before I start this review:

1) Sorry It’s taken me so long to post this review. I’ve been doing things for an injured family member, working on my character for a G.U.R.P.S. game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe I’m in (starts 2NITE!), and various other things.

2) I want to experiment with a few different formats for my reviews. So far I’ve written long reviews, usually upwards of 1500 words. With both this and my Batman: Arkham Asylum review, I want to try something new. Please, please, please comment and let me know what you think.

Now, without further ado…

VVVVVV – PC, 2010

Made by Terry Cavanagh

Music by Souleye

Where’s the score, you ask? Well, as I said above, this is a new review style. I’m calling this a “Bottom Line” review, which will attempt to answer the question: “Should I buy it?”

VVVVVV is a beautiful game, and one that screenshots don’t really do justice to. The backgrounds of each screen move, in some cases causing you to misjudge the exacting maneuvers you must perform. Platforms shift back and forth, taunting you with their plausible-but-unlikely challenges. It’s far too animated to capture in a still.

Souleye was a name unfamiliar to me until I got my review copy of VVVVVV, but I’m certainly glad that I know it now. I was also pleasantly surprised to find the he also did the music for Garden Gnome Carnage, a simple yet addictive Christmas-themed freeware game that I love. Souleye’s 8-bit music is in excellent form here, providing that same kind of catchy subliminal motivation that the Megaman franchise tends towards. You will get the music stuck in your head, and it won’t be annoying.

Every room in the game has a name, which will sometimes create kind of a “mini-narrative” of sorts between the player and the game. When I saw the room name “Doing Things The Hard Way,” (which I have yet to complete, by the way) I thought, “I’ve already seen some tough puzzles, so what could this room possibly–oh.” A smile crept across my lips as I realized the absurdity of the task set before me. You see, playing VVVVVV isn’t hard in the same way that other games are. It’s not “I-sure-wish-I-didn’t die-from-three-bullets” hard like Half-Life 2 is on its hardest setting. It’s not trial-and-error difficult like Hitman 2: Silent Assassin is. It’s a constant, “I-need-to-get-better-so-I-can-save-my-crew” kind of hard. If you get frustrated easily, you might want second guess your purchase. Proof:

Pick up this game. It is my sincere hope that you’ll realize, an hour and 200 or so deaths into the game, that you haven’t stopped smiling. It may not be the longest game, but with a time trial mode, an unlockable ability to flip the entire game vertically, and other fun unlockables I don’t want to spoil, there’s a profound, Cave Story-esque joy that VVVVVV will impart to you. You’ll never regret playing it, and more importantly, you’ll never regret paying for it.

It releases tomorrow! Here! Buy it!

Oh, and don’t forget to comment! I need to know how you guys like your reviews, so I can serve them up the right way all the time!