Narita Boy

Narita Boy is a love letter to pop culture and visual references from the 80s. This indie game stands out thanks to its story, design and music, although problems with gameplay and controls prevent it from reaching its full potential.

Narita Boy is a surprisingly melancholic experience that puts forth a narrative exploring the power fantasy that video games provide people. Or rather more accurately, it gives the player power over their own journey as well as the skills necessary to overcome obstacles. It contrasts the beautiful and fantastical pixel world it’s created, with a very human story of hardship and grief.

Narita Boy is a game that takes such a strong influence from so many past works, it can often feel a bit derivative. However, that doesn’t stop the game from being enjoyable, as there’s plenty of unique challenges to overcome as well as some solid lore-building. It’s gorgeous visual design and soundtrack will be enough to entice anyone familiar with 80s pop culture, and could prove irresistible to those that have a fondness for the era.

Narita Boy's digital twist on a classic fantasy tale is engrossing if a bit disorientating.

Narita Boy’s art direction is spectacular, and the story is fun, but the adventure itself is disappointing – shallow, repetitive and stretched out. [06/2021, p.45]

Narita Boy’s retro style is its main selling point. It’s almost like a documentary on the early days of videogames when their creation were labors of love and dedication from passionate geeks in a garage, not industrial products focus-tested by mega corporations. Although it falls short of being a masterpiece, it’s got more than enough appeal to come recommended to those who have a soft spot for the period.

Narita Boy is hands-down a gorgeous looking game, with detailed pixel art and a beautiful ode to Tron. It is unfortunate then, that its platforming is overly simplistic, the combat perfunctory and the backtracking feels utterly unnecessary.

Narita Boy's extraordinary style and presentation is let down by hollow exploration and one-note combat.

At its best, there’s certainly moments of appreciation and respect for the artistic detail Narita Boy lavishes in, with its pixel art and generally-eery vision of cyberspace run amok with corrupted foes. At the very least, the game’s somewhat-warped screen display and drenching in ’80s culture tropes is anything but off-putting. The problem then lies with its simplicity of delivery and the game’s general lack of appeasing those looking for something more than surface-level attraction. A world that too often feels unnecessarily padded on a level design basis; a combat system though not terrible, feels a little too undecided on what it exactly wants to be. And beyond that, a story/narrative the game really could’ve gone without given how little relevance or even impact it holds on a player’s progression. Venturing through the Digital Kingdom does spark some moments of delight. But beyond its art-style and fond execution on aesthetic, Narita Boy‘s unenthusiastic lack of originality and care for its overarching design, winds up carving out a satisfactory yet tepid debut for Studio Koba.