SwordBounce

Holy crap this game was amazing. This needs to be a staple in the challenging-platformer community. The level design is so good. Sometimes I have to question what makes some platformers good and others not, but this is like the purest essence of whatever that good stuff is. The controls never feel deceptive and I never felt like a death wasn't my fault. Even if I did, the levels are the perfect length. I was skeptical of one-screen levels at first, but they actual vary greatly in size. No screen is ever arbitrarily sized either. The developer knows exactly what he's doing and how much space to give the player. The mechanics are by far the best part. The best platformers are the ones that explore movement mechanics. If you loved the seemingly insignificant but revolutionary fall-jump or flutter in Wings of Vi, or appreciate games like I Wanna Be The Boshy teaching the importance of reserved double jumps, then you'll definitely love the sword bounce mechanic. It is NOT just a gimmick. It forces the player to always be moving, always reacting. Bouncing off a spike seems cute until you realize there's no longer a reason to have a floor. Also, you can bounce off things to the side of you, even if not directly beneath you. Now you're pretty much precision flying, and it's great. I can't stress enough how much this brings to the table. A sign that a platformer is using its mechanics wisely is when you have to digest every level before jumping in, pondering your moveset to find a path in the madness. The developer introduces a few other mechanics, but takes time fleshing out all the possibilites that can result. As such, the difficulty curve is beautiful, besides the secrets that give you a hint of what you're in for. Every object, projectile, and switch can also be bounced off, and the developer uses that to fit so many unique challenges into a small space, of which are then chained together to make mess that, when perfected, can be completed in only 5 seconds. Every level feels different, in the same way that two paintings somehow feel different despite just being paint on a canvas. Seriously, just watch a let's play or something if you're on the fence; you'll know what kind of game this is. I was scared before buying when I saw how little reception this game had. Turns out the only reason it's not popular yet is because people haven't bought it. Now I just want everyone to experience this soon-to-be classic. Like the other reviewers, you probably will too.