Dec 8

Dec 8 Review | Lunistice - Blast From The Present

It wasn’t until very recently that I discovered that a tanuki is a real animal. My first exposure to a tanuki was in Super Mario Brothers 3, followed by Pocky & Rocky, and then seeing them in anime and learning about their supernatural scro…well, I’ll let you look that part up on your own. I always assumed they were just mysterious creatures from Japanese mythology. It is a coincidence that just as I learned the truth of their existence that Lunistice would come out, starring Hana the tanuki as the main character. Lunistice, from developer A Grumpy Fox, perfectly captures the whimsy these animals filled me with in my younger years and emulates the games I loved so much when I was naïve to the truth of the animal.

Honestly, this looks newer than the Switch version of Frontiers.

Lunistice opens with a brief cinematic where an unknown speaker informs you that in the year 2453, a program is failing to work and booting of the next loop is about to begin. It doesn’t make a lot of sense at the start and by the time I finished the game I was no wiser as to what was happening. This is totally fine however as Lunistice doesn't really seem to care itself, instead much happier to allow its gameplay to do the talking. Lunistice is a platformer that has modelled itself after the best of the 32-bit era, recalling classics such as Rayman and Crash Bandicoot. Everything from these games that worked is then streamlined for speed and modern expectations, as levels aren’t sprawling and open but are instead short and sweet, occasionally allowing you to get sidetracked to snag more collectables. With the exception of one of the later levels, everything is rather linear and keeps you on track by presenting you with a short challenge and demanding you tackle it with the game's super tight platforming while juggling sections of light combat, and collectable gathering. You’ve got your jump, double jump and basic attack which can be combo’d for a triple jump, all of which feel tight and responsive. Every level of the game is a succinct puzzle that asks you to combine these moves to quickly solve these linear obstacle courses and then move on to the next challenge.

The visual aesthetic of the game perfectly matches the feel of the game. Lunistice’s low-poly visuals show that, when it is done right, a retro 3D game can look great, looking like how you remember the games of your youth. Levels are varied and fun, running the gambit from bright beaches with water slides to cruise down, to a musical picnic with platforms that pop in and out to the music, to wooded forests with magical mushrooms that will reveal a grind rail for you to jump on and unleash some serious speed. Each of these levels feels distinct and kept me excited to see what was going to come next, while also maintaining a cohesive style. Working hand in hand with the visuals is the music, which sounds so familiar yet so fresh and remains enjoyable throughout the entire game. While this can certainly hit hard right in the nostalgia, Lunistice ensures that even younger players that didn’t grow up around the games of old will still be entertained by what they are seeing and hearing.

The platforming in Lunistice is fair from start to finish and never veers too far into anything overly difficult. Seeking out all the collectibles and clearing the level without dying to get an S-Rank does make things a little harder but Lunistice manages to avoid ever being frustrating. Enemies in the game are easily taken out with Hana’s spin attack, but if they should land a hit, Hana has enough health that they are rarely an issue. However, there is an unlockable character that has no attack and can only be hit once before dying, so it is a nice way to add some difficulty to the game.

Lunistice scores major points in its value. Finishing all the levels while aiming for an S-Rank took me just over two hours. If that was all that the game included, I would have been satisfied but the fact that upon completion you unlock two more characters gives the game some longer legs. Each of these characters not only plays very differently from Hana but comes with their own set of S-Ranks to chase, which greatly extends the length of the game, and forces you to reconsider how you play. This all means there is a lot of bang for the buck, especially considering A Grumpy Fox set the price at just £4.99. All that means Lunistice is an easy game to recommend. Whether it be to people who want to relive a bit of the past, those who want something with undeniable charm and tons of replayability, or those that need a reminder that even though tanukis are real, that doesn’t take away their magic.