Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams

 PC
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 21
  3. Negative: 1 out of 21
  1. Thunderbolt
    Nov 16, 2012
    70
    Twisted Dreams brings back an unlikely product of a derivative time and gives it unique life. It's a positive early argument for Kickstarter revivals and while it still works in known quantities, it provides a hellishly difficult and sweet platformer that finally provides a non-ironic reason to enjoy the Giana Sisters.
  2. DarkZero
    Nov 10, 2012
    70
    Though it slightly misses that mark, this is still one adventurous journey that is worth the few bumps along the road.
  3. Gamereactor Sweden
    Oct 23, 2012
    70
    Despite being a little rough around the edges, this is a true sequel to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Giana Sisters series. It's fun, it's fresh and it's so much more than a Super Mario clone.
  5. PC Gamer
    Feb 1, 2013
    63
    Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams may provide a few hours of polished puzzle-platforming, but don't be surprised if you ultimately end up estranged.[March 2013, p.65]
    All this publication's reviews
  6. Eurogamer Spain
    Dec 6, 2012
    60
    It's a good homage to old genre favourites, but it clearly can't compete against the greatest platform games published in recent years.

Awards & Rankings

70
#70 Best PC Game of 2012
83
#83 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 171 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 119 out of 171
  2. Mixed: 31 out of 171
  3. Negative: 21 out of 171
  1. KabraxisObliv
    Oct 27, 2012
    10
    So many indie platformers out there.. which ony to play first? This one! Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is an extremely challenging but alsoSo many indie platformers out there.. which ony to play first? This one! Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is an extremely challenging but also very forgiving platformer with a twist. Whenever you want it to, the game changes its music from a bright and sunny world into a dark place with demons for example instead of owls. It does not only affect the graphics and the soundtrack (which changes from retro-ish music by Chris Hülsbeck (the guy who created the music for the original Giana Sisters game in the 80s) to a faster (sometimes) metal-like soundtrack by Machinae Supremacy) but also it does affect the whole gameplay. Normal plants change into spikes or castle gates open to let you advance through the level. And sometimes even secrets are revealed by transforming the world. The level design is astonishingly good. Rich of detail (like really rich, most detailed game I have seen in a long time), cool puzzles, fast-paced (if you want to go for a speed run (or Time Attack mode), cool new game mechanics added every two levels or so... it just never gets boring and the levels get better and better and more varied as you progress but also harder and harder.

    Your characters can jump on top of enemies to kill them (the classic way) or you simply dash into them by pressing a button. Another button let's you twirl which makes you stay in the air for a longer time so you can precisely land on enemies or overcome obstacles.

    You will also collect gems throughout all the levels. After the first five levels there is a boss fight which is pretty tough but the checkpoint save system of the game is really fair. But after a level you will always get a rating. To unlock a boss level you will need an average of three stars per level.
    You can get up to five stars in every level: Three for collecting gems, two for not dying a lot.
    So even if you die 100 times in a level but collect around 85% of the gems you will still get three stars, pretty fair. But if you want 5 stars you must not die more than three (upcoming patch on 10/30/2012 changes this to five) times.

    Why should you want more than three stars? Well, if want to unlock Hardcore mode (only one life per level) you will need four stars in the boss level(s). But other than that it's only for achievements I guess.

    Other than that it only lacks a real story. There's around the same amount of story as in Super Meat Boy.. so .. not much. But the game really does not need it. Why 9 ouf of 10 and not 10 out of 10? Sometimes the game gets a little bit frustrating so it can happen that you die like 20 in the same level segment. But still, there are checkpoints and the devs promised more checkpoints and removing unfair placed enemies in a patch coming next week.

    The customer support by Black Forest Games is amazing. So far they answered every single question I had, every tweet I made, and I have not seen a single suggestion thread on the forums that has not been commented by a developer. Fantastic work. Also I heard of a free DLC coming... okay, screw it, the game and the company just deseverd another 10/10 user review.    … Full Review »
  2. didim
    Oct 27, 2012
    9
    A new star is born in the platformer genre with great gameplay,visuals and level design.The controls are great with a gamepad. The soundtrackA new star is born in the platformer genre with great gameplay,visuals and level design.The controls are great with a gamepad. The soundtrack is awesome, it took me some minutes to be comfortable with the music switch, but at the end it's so great. It's been a while I haven't seen a platformer of this quality on PC, and the price is very low.
    The first levels are very easy, but the difficulty grows rapidly. I played the 2 first world so far with 2 awesome boss fights.
    More you progress in the game better and longer the levels are.
    The game has nothing to do anymore with the original mario clone I played when I was young on amiga, it's fresh and innovativ
    I want more of those kind of games,really great job.    … Full Review »
  3. chocolatemiak
    Oct 24, 2012
    9
    Overall I'm incredibly satisfied with this game from the money spent. I'm very happy with the gameplay and it has good quality controls. TheOverall I'm incredibly satisfied with this game from the money spent. I'm very happy with the gameplay and it has good quality controls. The switch gimmick is visually really cool, I'm sure some people will get sick of it but I thought it was always interesting to see, everything changes, even little designs in the background. The difficulty is harder than I originally thought, and it takes a good amount of time to get through it. From the hours of gameplay I've had, it was money well spent.… Full Review »
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