Game: Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – Owltimate Edition
System: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Black Forest Games
Publisher: Handy Games
Age Rating: 7+ (UK & EU) | E (US)
Regular Price: £26.99 | €29,99| $29.99
Release Date: 25th September 2018
(The game is available as a physical copy and digital download on Switch. It is also available on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Wii U but not as the “Owltimate edition”)
Review code kindly provided by Handy Games
Bring Back My Sister!
Maria has been kidnapped and taken to the dream world; it’s down to her sister Giana to rescue her. With the ability to switch between dream worlds in an instant: Giana traverses through the worlds, switching between the two while defeating enemies and discovering secrets along the way.
Gameplay & Controls
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – Owltimate Edition, is a brilliant platformer with a great transitional game mechanic.
Although the core game has been out since 2012, the Owltimate Edition includes the DLCs that were also released and includes five new levels, as well as having the Halloween and Christmas themed levels available to play. However, it doesn’t include the multiplayer mode that the Steam version has.
Throughout the levels there are hundreds of gems to collect and there are also large gems that unlock artwork in the game’s gallery – really gives the player a reason to explore everywhere (if you like checking out the artwork that is).
At the end of each level, you are given a score/rating based on what was collected, how many deaths,etc, giving the player an incentive to replay a level to obtain a better outcome (especially to unlock certain aspects of the game).
On top of the 40+ levels that the game has, there are also multiple game modes that change things up. Normal mode is the easiest difficulty, but if you want to play the score attack, time attack or hardcore modes; you have to play through the game on hard mode, which isn’t an easy feat.
There is also an über hardcore mode, but you need to play through the levels on hardcore mode first – the developers certainly wanted to make it difficult!
Transitioning
One of the best parts of the game is the seamless transition, from one dream world to the other. The changes are not just cosmetic, they also play a key role in traversing through the levels and finding hidden areas, as well as solving some off the puzzles.
When switching between the two worlds, Giana’s style changes from being “cute” to “punk”. The music also transitions brilliantly from a “punk” style to a “cute” style – in the options you can choose whether to have both styles play or just the one playing (in case you prefer one over the other).
Giana can jump on the head of an enemy to defeat them, but she also has two types of attacks: spin attack in “cute” form and dash attack in “punk” form. The attacks remind me of Mario’s spin attack and Sonic’s dash attack; the spin attack allows Giana to drift down from platforms, while the dash attack can be used to bounce off walls to get up and around ledges. It’s an interesting combination and makes it feel slightly familiar to players of Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, while still being different because of the way they are implemented and used to get through the levels.
Although the spin and dash attacks are signature moves of a particular form, the game transitions when ever a player uses the other form’s attack. For example: while as “cute” Giana, if the player uses the dash attack, Giana gets changed into the “punk” form (and everything else transitions as well). The change is still seamless and really helps keep the game feeling fluid.
Graphics, Designs & Soundtrack
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams looks nice and crisp with plenty of detail, while being more cartoon in style than one of realism.
The levels are full of colour and life for the one dream world, while being dark and desolate for the other – such a great contrast, and to have them transition so seamlessly is a joy to watch.
The soundtrack is just as brilliant as everything else; there is a big difference between the two versions of the soundtrack, but they transition so smoothly from one to the other and really add to the contrast of the two worlds – one is more classical/orchestrated while the other is more metal/rock.
Additional Comments
Is it worth the £26.99/€29,99/$29.99 price? I find it difficult to say a definite yes or no. The game’s quality is brilliant, but if you only play through on normal mode; I get the feeling some players would feel like they paid too much.
The core game on Steam is currently £10.99 (Owlverlord expansion is £3.99) and has a local multiplayer mode available (not co-op though). The Switch was made with local multiplayer in mind; so it’s a little baffling to why the Switch version costs as much as it does, but doesn’t have a multiplayer mode at all – can only hope there are plans for it to be included in the future.
Overall Opinion
I absolutely love Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – I never got the chance to play any of the Giana Sisters games before; I get the feeling I may of been spoilt by starting with this one! 😛
The fluidity of the game, the smooth transitions from one world to the other, the music, the level designs, the difficulty; all brilliant in my view and makes the game all the more enjoyable when compared to other platformers I have played.
If the multiplayer mode had been included, then the price would have been all the more understandable, and although it’s not a necessity to have multiplayer; judging from the trailer on Steam, I think I would of had great fun playing it with friends.
One aspect that (unfortunately) not all games have, is an art gallery. To have so many artwork pieces available to unlock and view in the game; added another layer of enjoyment for me – I love seeing video game art, so this aspect was very welcomed by me. 😀
I definitely recommend Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – Owltimate Edition, to anyone that enjoys the side scrolling platformers and like to complete games on their hardest difficulty.
If you just want to play through the game, maybe wait for a sale, or if you have a PC that can play the game; try the game via Steam (it has a demo version).
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