LifeisXbox’s Slime’s Journey Review | I am a huge fan of these retro-inspired 2D sprite adventure games. Truth be told, this game was on my radar before the time of writing so getting an opportunity to write about it was a must for me. Slime’s Journey created and published by lightUp, is an old-school platformer game similar to the likes of Mario and Bubsy. This isn’t the first time we have had the pleasure of reviewing games from this developer. If you are interested in checking any of these reviews out you can check them out here.
ℹ️ | We finished Slime’s Journey on PC before providing this review. This game is only available on Steam.
What we liked!
- The Unlockable Abilities | Starting your adventure as a newly hatched slime is difficult. You have a small attack of shooting a small blue orb and bomb-throwing once you have collected them. You also have minimal health and the slightest knock can send you to your doom. That being said, it adds a nice learning curve to the adventure game and also forces you to explore your surroundings as exploring can yield upgradable treasures found by the witches’ potion stands. Additional health chunks, double jump upgrades, multi shots, strength but to name a few all play a huge role in making your slime tougher and harder to take down.
- The art style | Retro 2D sprites are a favourite of mine. The aesthetics of the game are very pleasing and it’s great to see the creator following the traditional genre tropes. The animations, the colours, the pixel depth, and the sounds all make a complete package. Taking damage has the character flash to indicate damage has been received, there are even animations from running through the grass and having the plants move. There is a lot of detail in this game and it’s really impressive.
- The Music | The game features a nice chiptune soundtrack that is reminiscent of the games in the genre. It’s a nice fitting soundtrack that adds a lot to the game. Not to mention that the sound effects accompany it nicely also. Jumping gives this nice high-pitched boing that would be mistaken for part of the track. It’s all very fitting and serves its purpose nicely for this sort of genre.
- The Boss Battles | The boss battles are also very entertaining. You enter the area and you are greeted with epic chiptune boss music unique to each boss. The boss then proceeds to bounce around the map firing a hail of projectiles your way until defeated. It’s the classic platformer boss that we all know and loves from the likes of Mario, Sonic, and other games from this era. Defeating them gives you gems or a key to store until later use.
- The Currency System | The gems you acquire when defeating an enemy are used to purchase potions from the witches’ stalls. These are all related to health regeneration. This may not sound special, but there is always 1 potion that increases your max health and it’s worth seeking these out. Later on in the game, the enemy types get stronger and can launch projectiles back at you so it’s best to acquire these as much as you can. Gems can also be found in secret treasure chests throughout the map which contains anywhere between 15 and 30 gems at a time. Additional health costs 100 gems, so another reason I liked this is it encouraged you to explore the map which also increases your playtime.
Somewhere between
- The Map | Don’t be confused by this part. The mini-map that you can access by pressing M on your keyboard or Y on your controller is fine. It’s very useful and I was constantly referencing it during my time with it. My main concern is the map that you navigate around. It’s a bit confusing and there are many areas you can access before getting certain abilities which in doing so traps you and you have no choice but to quit and restart the game or if trapped with an enemy, die. I’m sure it’s not easy keeping track of all of this stuff but the number of times I entered into an area where I needed a double jump and then not being able to get out took me out of the experience too many times.
- Reused Assets | Looking at the developer’s other games, especially Barry the Bunny, it’s evident to see that there are some reused assets here which is a shame. This is because fans of the developer picking up this game may feel like they have experienced certain aspects of a new game already. My advice here would be to change it somehow even if it’s just a little bit. The green snake enemy just to pick on one could have been changed to red or blue to give it a newer look and feel. It’s a small change but will stop people from feeling like they have seen it all before.
What we disliked
- The length of gameplay | The game is super short. My first playthrough took me about an hour to complete and on my first playthrough, I unlocked 87% of the achievements and in-game items. A second hour playing the game would be enough to 100% the game in all areas but even at 2 hours, the game feels underwhelmingly short. Adding some sort of additional modes would have been a great way of padding the experience out. An endless boss battle mode perhaps where you go for as long as possible defeating boss after boss which gets faster and faster would have been fun.
- Accessability | Very few indie games these days add options for the ever-growing issue of players with accessibility needs. It would have been nice to see more options added to the menu for people with disabilities or special requirements. I know I say this a lot when reviewing games, but in 2021, we should all be considering this when making and publishing games.
How long to beat the story | 1 hour
How long to achieve 1000G | 2 hours
Similar with | Barry the Bunny, Super Sunny Island & Wild West Crops. These games are all by the same developer and all share the same genre and art style.
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Gaming is in my blood. Be it handheld games, Xbox, PC, Switch or Playstation, I am all over it.
I make my own games as part of my profession and love playing co op games with friends in my spare time. Avid dog lover and camper van enthusiast.
