Game: Okunoka Madness
Genre: Platformer, Arcade
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on PC, Xbox One and PS4)
Developer|Publisher: Caracal Games | Ignition Publishing
Age Rating: EU 7+ | US E
Price: UK £13.49 | EU € 14,99 | US $14.99
Release Date: September 8th 2020
Review code provided with many thanks to Ignition Publishing
Hard Niche
Frustratingly hard games have their place in the gaming universe and prove to be very popular in the speed running community as well as a particular player base. Today we have Okunoka Madness. A game that appears to be the original Okunoka which released on the Switch in 2018 but with some extra ‘Madness’ expansion added to it. This game is very hard so if you’re prone to controller-throwing you have been warned.
Prepare to Die
You play as KA, a sort of ghost looking jelly monster who’s tasked with saving the world of souls from the evil Os. What this translates to is completing level after level of platforming insanity until you reach the goal. There is no combat, you simply avoid hazards, jump around and use abilities to activate new platforms all at the right moments. Easy right?
You navigate the platforms with fine precision but despite your efforts you will probably die quite a lot. So much so that you may end up throwing the controller at your wall or down the stairs. Remember though, a Switch console is rather expensive to replace. Yes, Okunoka Madness is one of those ridiculously hard platformers. It provides no support for the casual gamers. Death on each level is a certainty. Fortunately the load times are instant so the appeal to retry is strong until you get to the end of the level and eat a black looking monster and poop out a happy yellow one instead, which reminded me a lot of the Lums in Rayman Legends.
Highly Detailed Graphics
Speaking of Rayman Legends, the art style felt quite reminiscent and that is not a bad thing. The graphics are beautifully detailed from the environments to the hazards. The only somewhat downside is because you’re running around so quickly in the game some of the platforms and backgrounds seem to blend together making it sometimes difficult to know exactly where to jump next. This does lead on to one of the games main niggles.
Gotcha
Okunoka is a game that really just wants you to die and have you learn from it. For the most part this is fine. Sometimes the level would not scroll vertically quickly enough so KA would have to take a leap of faith only to fall victim to another pit of spikes. I often call this design the ‘Gotcha.’ Maybe this is what the developers say when you fall victim to this design? At least that’s what I imagine. The problem I find with this is that it’s not rewarding for the player and it forces them to learn from hazards that they could not predict rather than allowing them to rely on skill.
Controlling on Ice
The controls feel a little floaty. You spend the game running around jumping from platforms and off walls. I felt a lot of the time like I was playing on ice. I was constantly on edge attempting to avoid lasers or rockets while also jumping to other platforms and pressing the shoulder buttons to reveal new platforms I could jump to. You often need to hold ‘x’ to sprint and ‘a’ to jump a combination that didn’t feel comfortable on the joy cons or pro controller. Sadly the game does not allow you to re map controls, something I think would have helped immensely. There will be gamers out there that welcome the challenging controls and will be able to nip around the levels with ease. This would be a fun title to watch a skilful player master playing it.
No Place for Casual
I don’t have an issue with games deliberately being hard. There is a audience for this, as shown by Super Meat Boy, a game this title clearly takes a lot of inspiration from. It’s just a shame more attempts were not made to appeal to the overall platformer crowd especially since this game looks so good graphically. The game doesn’t let you progress any further until you’ve finished the level you are on. I would often play a few levels then reach a overly frustrating one. I’d have to walk a way for a while to retry it later and then usually succeed. It’s a shame there wasn’t a way to bypass the stupidly hard levels or maybe just tone things down a touch to allow people to learn the game at there own pace. Instead Okunoka goes for the throat right from the first world. So if you have issues with stress I would highly advise caution when looking into getting this game.
Plenty of Content
There is plenty of content on offer here. You have the main story then a madness campaign which dials up the difficulty even more after a already tough campaign. During each level you can also find collectible little purple monsters. If you collect enough and survive the level you unlock new characters with different abilities, these may make some elements of the game easier like sticking to walls rather then sliding down. They can also provide challenges in different ways like moving slower. This gives an incentive to replay the game all over again. You can also unlock character’s by obtaining ‘S’ ranks on each level. Unlocking any of the characters is very difficult and it’s a shame you don’t unlock any by naturally playing the game.
Total Madness
Okunoka Madness knows what game it wants to be. A hard brutal platformer that will have the most experienced gamer one the verge of throwing their Switch out the window. For some that’s enjoyable but for others not.
I really loved the art style of the game but its a shame the levels and art work will only be appreciated by a few gamers patient enough to make it through the insanity. I had fun with my time with Okunoka but I think I’ll be taking a few relaxing baths before I pick it up again.
Final Verdict: I like it
