Penarium-Go the circus they said,it will be fun,they said!

 

Penarium is a arcade style platformer,with a 2D pixel artstyle ,made be Self Made Miracle and published by Team17,Digital Ltd. In the game you play Willy-a portly farm boy that in his yearning for adventure,accepts a invitation from a mysterious ring leader that offers you a exciting adventure in his circus.But it was all a trap!The man kidnaps you and forces you to participate in the true nature of Penarium-The Sadistic Circus Extravaganza.Now you must avoid a variety of traps and combination of taps,to collect barrels,balloons,potions and push buttons,all for the entertainment of the crowd...and for your life of course.

 

Now at a very basic surface,the game might seem as one of the "Super Crate Box" knockoffs that appear from time to time,but playing through it i was pleasantly surprised by the amount of work and care that has been put in.To start off there are a couple of worlds,so to say,each having 3 game modes-arcade,campaign and multiplayer.While arcade and multiplayer are just a "survive as long as possible,without/with or against another player",the campaign serves both as a collection of challenges that serve as way to unlock the other worlds,but also to move the story forward.While each challenge level is gonna be on the same platform layout,the combination of the traps are made with very much thought into them,seeing as how often they compliment each other.Like the one trap slowing you down with the other one that shots out saw blades that roll around the platform or the trap that shoots out birds that move the barrel with the one that shoots seeking rockets.But what about control?Well as a sign of a good platformer the controls are tight and responsive.You walk left and right and jump.That is all you got and that is all you need to survive.The most complicated thing you can do is a double jump,which they have a very amusing explanation of how big boned Willy is able to do that.Though i have to mention that in arcade mode you can collect coins to by cards that are randomly appear in arcade mode as power ups.One of the tips i can give is that there is not time limit.you can find a safe place and plan out your move,or wait for a opening without any pressure of a penalty.

 

That is more or less the gameplay,but what about the rest?Well the pixel artstyle is very delightful.Take it from someone who enjoys it in all of its forms.The design of the characters are simple but good,every thing has a nice bounce to it,and everything has small details that while can be easily miss, i still appreciate,like the potions have small bubbles in them.Also everything has a very bright and complementary coloring.

 

Now the game has its flaws.One of them is not that noticeable,the music.While the sound effects are not problematical,they can drown out the music,which i am not sure how many of it there is.But at least i can appreciate the fact that is a mix of twisted energetic and generic circus tune.In a way of gameplay flaw is that there are traps have a unpredictable/random pattern that can make you feel that your failed attempt was a unfair one. The other problem is sadly lies in the genre itself,in that it is not for everyone.Now while i understand that that statement can apply for every game,not very people like the whole "difficult,insta-death platformer" is not very popular with the majority of crowds.And with a lack of difficulty setting dont help much.

 

But over all,i have to say i enjoyed my time with Penarium. After witnessing all the work that came into it,it has my respect.If you like hard platformers,you will enjoy this,if you dont like them,you will enjoy it to a point.Plus the overall reasonable price, multiplayer options and the arcade mode with its power up mechanics offer much in the way of replay value and that makes it a cut above the rest of its genre.