VVVVVV

 PC
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 273 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 189 out of 273
  2. Mixed: 63 out of 273
  3. Negative: 21 out of 273

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  1. Draculamarth
    Nov 5, 2013
    2
    Indie games don't have to suck, yet almost always they do, which brings me to this game: VVVVVV. I'll give it props for it's cracking soundtrack and that's all I can say that is positive here.

    For whatever reason, the go-to "modern retro" style is the one employed by I Wanna Be The Guy. WHY?! That game is absolutely terrible. Objective. Fact. Yet here's VVVVVV doing the "Retro is Hard"    Indie games don't have to suck, yet almost always they do, which brings me to this game: VVVVVV. I'll give it props for it's cracking soundtrack and that's all I can say that is positive here.

    For whatever reason, the go-to "modern retro" style is the one employed by I Wanna Be The Guy. WHY?! That game is absolutely terrible. Objective. Fact. Yet here's VVVVVV doing the "Retro is Hard" BS. There's a difference between "Hard" and "Showing Active Contempt For Your Audience"

    The graphics are terrible. You can't even use the "retro" excuse because even old ZX Spectrum games (the system I assume it's trying to replicate) had better detail. You want a ZX Spectrum throwback? L'Abbaye Mortis is a far better game because it's not trying so hard to be a "hardcore platformer". Also, you don't waste money because it's free. Screw this noise. 2/10    … Expand
  2. ChaosHydrA
    Jul 18, 2014
    3
    Cute Story/Characters and a great soundtrack for about 3 hours but thats where the fun stops for VVVVVV.

    While there is a decent handful of good puzzles based aroudn timing in this game, the overall amount of challengeand difficlty of the game is based on really cheap trial and error mechanics. This is due to 2 flaws. First of all the game is heavily based on quick screen changes and    Cute Story/Characters and a great soundtrack for about 3 hours but thats where the fun stops for VVVVVV.

    While there is a decent handful of good puzzles based aroudn timing in this game, the overall amount of challengeand difficlty of the game is based on really cheap trial and error mechanics.

    This is due to 2 flaws. First of all the game is heavily based on quick screen changes and a wrapped up map system ( ie. if you go out of the far left end of the map you will for example pop up on the far right)

    This screen changing mechanic/refresh rate however is overly used in the games puzzles besides just exploring around and while it does open up for creative puzzles it does sadly however also works as the games main difficulty tool and is the cause of alot of punishing deaths. The problem with it is the fact that the refresh rate of these screen changes robs about ½ a second of the player to calculate his movements and with some of the harder puzzles in the game using multiple screen changes (the hardest one was about 10-12) then it turns into a complete mess of a challenge and relies solely on a mass amount of deaths caused by trial and error and eye memorization. There are a great amount of puzzles where you will fall into spikes due to this update rate and it leads toa tedium of simple deaths due to exhaustion of this design choice.

    Secondly theres the control of the main character. The character is overall easy to control and is only causing problems at puzzle which is simply due to a overly sensitive movement. Theres a good amount of sliding (about the width of the main characters body) that makes landing on narrow ledges and platforms a bigger hasle than it should be because of this abrupt sliding. The worst part is that the acceleration in a still position is too high, he will take a long leap forward unless you decide to only tap the dpad/controller once, meaning you will end up in spikes under narrow platforms once again too often.

    The game should have been about timing and easy but challenging memorization not about a difficulty mechanic thats solely based on loose character response and the eyes adaptation of quick and constant screen changes and the game fails at this.

    Pros:

    +Cute style/Characters/Sound effects/Story/Dialogue
    +Soundtrack is amazing
    +Decent amount of nice Puzzles

    Cons:

    -Challenge/Difficulty incorporation Mechanics are cheap and not based on timing in a fair way too often.
    -Map design can be a mess, should have been made so you could get access from multiple ways to certain areas/secrets.
    -Sliding controls+alot of narrow ledged puzzles= Bad difficulty incorporated combo

    Verdict: 4.5/10
    Soundtrack: 8.0/10    … Expand
  3. ultraviper
    Apr 13, 2012
    3
    Nice retro music and graphics. But that's about all this game has going for itself. As for the difficulty, there is hard, then there is unfair. This game leans heavily toward the unfair side. "Hard" can be something like Super Meat Boy where you can plainly see all the challenges in front of you, and it's up to you to be skillful enough to pass them. VVVVVV's version of challenge is toNice retro music and graphics. But that's about all this game has going for itself. As for the difficulty, there is hard, then there is unfair. This game leans heavily toward the unfair side. "Hard" can be something like Super Meat Boy where you can plainly see all the challenges in front of you, and it's up to you to be skillful enough to pass them. VVVVVV's version of challenge is to punish players for not being psychic. It's trial-and-error gameplay at its worst. Your vision is limited to 1 tiny screen at a time. Get to the edge of the screen, and you appear in the next one. If you happen to be falling (up OR down, in this game) you go very fast and if there just happens to be a pit of spikes in your path, there is little you can do about it except die and remember they are there during your next attempt.… Expand
  4. suneater
    Dec 13, 2012
    1
    Another rage-inducing "indie retro platformer." I'm not sure if anyone genuinely enjoys games like this or if they're designed as masochism simulators. No old platformers were nearly as hard as this and other recent similar titles (like super meat boy) so it must be some combination of purposefully making overly hard games coupled with cheapo graphics design. If you feel video games areAnother rage-inducing "indie retro platformer." I'm not sure if anyone genuinely enjoys games like this or if they're designed as masochism simulators. No old platformers were nearly as hard as this and other recent similar titles (like super meat boy) so it must be some combination of purposefully making overly hard games coupled with cheapo graphics design. If you feel video games are just too easy for you lately and you enjoy platformers you should try this out but get ready to break your keyboard/gamepad over it.… Expand
  5. 1192249287
    Jun 1, 2013
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I don't know why i can't save!?? This game makes my steam window shaking all the time!!! And when i'm using T-Chinese input method the captain becomes crazy!!! That small man can't stop going left!!! Yes the plot is great but it should be able to be played.… Expand
  6. JonesR
    Dec 1, 2011
    3
    VVVVVV provides the perfect love/hate relationship. Flip gravity one way, love is in the air...flip gravity the other way, and the obscenities coming out of your mouth will make your mother cringe. It's crude and unsophisticated, yet nostalgic and frustratingly gratifying at the same time. I'm still trying to make up my mind...
  7. HwoDragon
    Jan 20, 2012
    3
    VVVVV is an ok game, don't get me wrong. But firstoff, the music. It literally hurts my ears. And of course any game with muted sound is so empty... Also, the game is so frusterating and repetitive. I mean, I can try 50 times to get past an obstacle and when I finally do... there's another one... There's not really a sense of progress. Also, the world really does not need another gravityVVVVV is an ok game, don't get me wrong. But firstoff, the music. It literally hurts my ears. And of course any game with muted sound is so empty... Also, the game is so frusterating and repetitive. I mean, I can try 50 times to get past an obstacle and when I finally do... there's another one... There's not really a sense of progress. Also, the world really does not need another gravity shifting arcade game. We have a billion games exactly like this. Honestly, sure I'd play the game online or in an arcade, but I would never pay full price for it. I got it from the bundle, but it really wasn't as good as the other games in there. I want to like it, but the blinking lights and electronic music just makes me want to barf.… Expand
  8. shumpc
    Aug 10, 2017
    1
    This game is highly over-rated. The character moves too quick. the story and script is un-inspired. The music is also terrible. This game has no redeemable features. Thomas Was Alone is a hundred times better.
  9. HipMahoko
    Jan 29, 2020
    1
    This game is boring. Many NES games have a much better visuals than VVVVVV. And it does'nt have a plot. If you want a good retro-styled Indie game, better go play The Messenger (2018).
    VVVVVV is a cheap garbage.
  10. PublicNuisance
    Nov 27, 2020
    4
    VVVVVV started off with an interesting twist to platformers where you change gravity instead of jumping and it also included a more interesting story than many platformers have but it got bogged down by what I call trial and error game play. Basically many parts to the game are going to force you to die because you can’t possibly see where the traps are so you are meant to play sectionsVVVVVV started off with an interesting twist to platformers where you change gravity instead of jumping and it also included a more interesting story than many platformers have but it got bogged down by what I call trial and error game play. Basically many parts to the game are going to force you to die because you can’t possibly see where the traps are so you are meant to play sections over and over until you memorize it. Now I will give the game credit in that checkpoints are a lot more common than some other platformers but at the same time I despise this mechanic. The soundtrack was decent and the visuals, while simple, were well done and stood out.

    I played VVVVVV on Linux. It never crashed on me. The game has many checkpoints but these are just temporary saves for this session and are lost when you quit to the menu. Actual full saves only happen at designated teleporters. This can become annoying if you just want a quick session and also isn’t explained very well in game. The game has a 30 FPS lock. Now this isn’t a game that suffers terribly from such a low frame rate but I see no reason to have the lock on any game. I played using the keyboard as well as using an F310 game pad and both worked well. The game pad was the winner for me as I found my hand got tired quicker using the keyboard.

    Game Engine: C++
    Game Version Played: 2.2
    Save System: Save Stations (checkpoints for current session)
    Disk Space Used: 74 MB
    CPU Usage: 1-9 %
    RAM Usage: 1.4 GB

    If it weren’t for the trial and error style game play I think I would have loved VVVVVV but as it stands I didn’t love it, I can’t even say I liked it. If you’re a fan of the style then you’ll probably enjoy it as the rest of the game is well done. I paid $3.29 CAD for the game and can’t say I got my money’s worth but again it will come down to your love for the style.

    My Score: 4/10

    My System:

    Intel I5-4590 | 16GB DDR3-1333 | Intel HD 4600 1536MB | Mesa 20.0.8 | Samsung 850 Evo 250GB | Trisquel 9.0 | Mate 1.20.0 | Kernel 5.4.80-gnu    … Expand
  11. nilsy
    Apr 7, 2017
    4
    Ok so this is just to hard for me.
    Found myself turning on the game and dying 50 times without completing a single 5 second mission turning it off.
    Next day it was just a little bit harder to die against 60 times without completing the same 5 seconds mission. Rinse and repeat until i stopped playing it without ever completing the game Ill give the soundtrack a 5 out of 5, seriously i    Ok so this is just to hard for me.
    Found myself turning on the game and dying 50 times without completing a single 5 second mission turning it off.
    Next day it was just a little bit harder to die against 60 times without completing the same 5 seconds mission.
    Rinse and repeat until i stopped playing it without ever completing the game

    Ill give the soundtrack a 5 out of 5, seriously i went and got the soundtrack mp3 files since its just so great.

    Still think it its on a BIG sale you could check it out maybe ur better then me and wont get completly stuck    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

32
#32 Best PC Game of 2010
33
#33 Most Discussed PC Game of 2010
1
#1 Most Shared PC Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. PC Zone UK
    Sep 12, 2011
    68
    Nothing VVVVVV does is actually new or different. [May 2010, p.91]
  2. GameCritics
    Sep 12, 2011
    70
    Sporadic difficulty notwithstanding, it's certainly a credit to Mr. Cavanagh that a project with VVVVVV's basic graphics and simple controls can feel so completely energetic and entertaining. Much more than it initially appears, I was quite glad to have spent time with the title, and eagerly look forward to what Terry will be cooking up next.
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  3. IGN
    Sep 12, 2011
    75
    It's easy to recommend VVVVVV to fans of the "retro revival" games that seem to be gaining in popularity; but it has more in common with artsy, competent and contemporary titles like N+ and Braid than it does with, say, Konami's Rebirth series on WiiWare, Mega Man 9 or Retro Game Challenge.
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