review by Badger Nimahson
Whipseey and The Lost Atlas is the brand new pixel art platformer from Blowfish Studios. A bright colourful and nostalgia-heavy trip back to the 8 bit console days.
I say nostalgia-heavy because there is so much “inspiration” taken from games of my childhood for each level. There is no denying that the first world is Mario Bros 2 and the final world is blatantly Bowser’s castle. My god, there is even a James Pond Robocod level!
There is an extremley fine line between inspiration and straight-up asset strip. Whipseey and The Lost Atlas push that fine line into a blur. So much so I am shocked to see it has a Nintendo Switch release and not a Nintendo Lawsuit!
As for the story, there is a small intro scene with no text or explanation so I had to go the blowfish studio website to get the actual premise for the game
After discovering a magical book, a young boy named Alex is whisked away to Whipseeyland, where he transforms into Whipseey, the pink, whip-wielding hero of this bright, colourful world. With the help of Princess Alyssa, Whipseey embarks on a quest to recover magical orbs that possess the power to return him home.
None of this is explained in the game which I feel is a massive let down. But with a story in hand it is into Whipseey and The Lost Atlas we go…
Gameplay-wise it is simple and effective. One button to jump another to use your whip. You have the choice of D-pad or analogue stick. Personally, I found the D-pad better suited to Whipseey and The Lost Atlas as it requires almost pixel-perfect movement that can make the difference between completing a level or dying.
As for the gameplay itself, whilst originally frustrating a couple of attempts at each room and you soon fly through the level. So much so that I completed the entire game in just under an hour!
That initial hour-long playthrough awarded me with 5 gold trophies and 1 silver trophy so it is a great quick and easy game for trophy hunters.
Another great audience I can see for Whipseey and The Lost Atlas is the speedrunner community. It would be interesting to see how quickly they could complete it.
It is obvious Whipseey and The Lost Atlas is aimed at retro gamers but there just isn’t enough depth or challenge for me to honestly recommend it to that community.
I can’t even recommend it to younger gamers as the pixel-perfect requirements of some parts are just too difficult for children.
At £5 Whipseey and The Lost Atlas is pretty reasonably priced. The best aspect for me though was the blatant asset strip. Even the title character Whipseey looks like a cheap Chinese knock off of Kirby. I was genuinely gobsmacked that Blowfish Studios have got away and kudos for having the balls to do so!
Overall Score – 5/10
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