Claire a la Mode

Sakuraaaiiiiii...!!! Okay, I didn't expect the next Colorgrave game would be a love letter to Kirby and Smash Bros, with several deep cuts from other games. The formula here is spastic but [i]very[/i] refined, with somehow more arcadey refinement than Curse Crackers had going for it. Overall, it feels great to play. The not-insubstantial lore expansions to the main Colorgrave continuity are also greatly appreciated here. I really dig the universe they've been spinning since Prodigal, and having that alongside the action is wonderful. I do strongly recommend playing Curse Crackers first (and if possible, Prodigal) to get the most out of this game, as the lore and setting directly follow from it. But otherwise: recommended.

Very fun game. It did not seem like a lot to write home about at the beginning. However, as it opened up it became very clear this is another Colorgrave masterpiece. Gameplay is great, story is great, music is fantastic. While the movement is more slippery than previous titles, leading to some frustrating situations with more skill-based jumps in the beginning. But once you get the hang of the movement it is great, with a lot of movement possibilities. All in all, great game.

Really enjoying the game. The story picks up where Curse Crackers leaves off, and I'd highly recommended playing it first, as it makes this game's plot much more understandable and enjoyable, and this entry contains spoilers for the previous game. Claire a la Mode is fast-paced (sometimes a tad too fast, as I've managed to throw myself into countless pitfalls when springing through stages), controls are responsive and snappy, and you can swap between a variety of characters as you go through the various stages. Each character has a unique special action that only they can perform, and these will come in handy as you replay stages to find and gather collectables, secrets, and more. The game is very forward with its arcade-style inspirations, and as such is likely to be a shorter ordeal. However, you're meant to replay stages with a variety of characters to find secrets that will rely on their unique abilities, collect medals for various completion conditions (coin collection, time, and no deaths), and seeing how well you can crank your stage scores. If you're the sort that likes going back for completionist runs or speed running, you'll probably get a lot of value out of the price. Even if you're not the sort to go and redo all stages to 100% the game, you're still likely to have a good time, especially if you already enjoyed Colorgrave's other games. Music in Colorgrave's games as always been something I've considered one of their greatest strengths, and this game continues to deliver. Be it driving melodies, leitmotifs tying the OST together, or arcade remixes of stage/zone callbacks from Curse Crackers, I've yet to find a track that I haven't enjoyed, and figured I'd need to give the music a quick shout out. tl;dr I like it, I recommend it, and you should give it a try if you like Colorgrave's body of work and/or arcade games.

A cute if short little game. Possibly needlessly cryptic, there were a number of little things I didn't understand and never figured out, but they were all optional. The characters were charming, I really should play the other games in this setting. Excellent soundtrack, high marks from me there. I really liked how bosses were typically short battles, especially because you can typically only take one hit before you have to retry. I suggest giving it a shot at the very least, it's a fun little playthrough.

A little delayed writing this but, genuinely a wonderful experience, the movement with each character feels satisfying and rewarding to get down. Everything from the art to the music has such refreshing whimsy to it and if you're a fan of 2D platformers then this game is more than worth a try.

High octane baking action. Not particularly difficult, but still a bunch of fun regardless.

Very fun and cute game! The movement feels so good when ya get good at it...