Most frustrating game of the year!

User Rating: 6.5 | VVVVVV 3DS
VVVVVV is a 2D retro platformer with a difference. In this day and age, there are many different takes on the core platforming idea, but VVVVVV stands out as two things: 1, a very innovative platformer, and 2, the one with the weirdest name. There is no jump button- instead, you must flip gravity. This adds a different level of thinking to the challenges. Among the most frequently appearing obstacles are platforms that disappear after you touch them, moving enemies, and... that's it. It may sound very simple, but VVVVVV manages to do a hell of a lot with some very basic ideas. Remember, you're flipping gravity, not jumping, so your tecnique will be different to a normal platformer. But VVVVVV does suffer from a lack of different obstacles. Too soon it starts getting old. Clearly, the developer thought this would be made up for by a ridiculously high difficulty level. And that's the big problem: VVVVVV just gets so hard that you're dying hundreds of times on one little segment. Sure, there's an invincibility option, but then, you find yourself in a situation where you have to quit. This could have been an awesome game without the stupidly high difficulty. Now I'm stuck halfway through with no way of proceeding, and wondering if it really was worth the price. The visuals are also where VVVVVV lacks- Mutant Mudds is an example of a retro platformer that can still look good- and VVVVVV's graphics are even worse with 3D on. You can hardly make out any 3D at all, but what's instantly visible is a weird ghosting effect. So the visuals aren't good, but the soundtrack is excellent classic videogame music. Considering all, VVVVVV is a good game held back by unnecessarily difficult design.