Iconoclasts

All of the characters in Iconoclasts have a lot of personality, there are multiple difficulty levels, and I always felt like I had a reason to return to previously explored areas to use new skills to reach different places.

It’s still kind of incredible to think that a single developer working alone made something like Iconoclasts, but after playing, it’s easy to see why it took as long as it did. Rough patches might remain, but Iconoclasts is a singular effort that, had it lived in the time of its inspirations, might have stood tall alongside them to inspire future generations of creators. In present day, it’s a sharply contemporary work that incorporates those lessons to result in a brilliant, unique experience.

With its Metroid trappings, Iconoclasts began as a familiar experience, but by the end I was left thinking more about the impactful character and narrative moments. Despite its bright and colorful aesthetic, Iconoclasts' world is a dark one, and the journey across it is one I did not expect to be so affected by. Couple that with design that would excel even without the narrative hooks, and you have a game that stands above its peers.

Iconoclasts is a sincere and compelling adventure that anyone with respect for fantastic storytelling and 2D-action can enjoy.

Most impressively, Iconoclasts evokes nostalgia without feeling derivative. It hits a lot of character tropes, but it manages never to feel stale thanks to fantastic visuals, a memorable world, and solid gameplay.

Iconoclasts takes the Metrovania genre to a new level of polish and charm, with plenty of secrets and a story that's surprisingly refreshing for the genre. It may not reinvent the wheel but rather shows that there's still plenty that can be uncovered when you apply seven years worth of polish to the sidescrolling standard.

Iconoclasts’ combination of clever Metroid-inspired design and lush art offers more than enough incentive to stick with it, even when the ambitious plot doesn’t always connect. This is a strange, complex game that – refreshingly – doesn't play quite like any other work in the genre. Iconoclasts offers a welcome reminder that they don't all have to play the same way.

The story told is exceptional.

Iconoclasts is a beautiful 2D action platformer. It doesn’t offer anything new, but it's very well crafted and charming.

Iconoclasts is an action-packed and gorgeous game that offers some great puzzles and exciting boss fights. An overly long script and some unlikable characters make the story less enjoyable but not enough to dampen Robin's robust and exciting adventure.

Iconoclasts might be the most beautiful Metroidvania we have played these past few years. The concepts are not very original, but this game feels like a love letter to the ‘90’s in many ways.

Iconoclasts is a different type of metroidvania, favouring environmental puzzles, exploration and story over combat and variety, wrapping everything up in a gorgeous 16 bit pixel art: we cannot avoid recommending it if you're in for an ingenious ride.

Iconoclasts is yet another proof of how independent software is taking up an increasingly important part of the gaming market. Made with an almost palpable devotion, Sandberg's game manages to stand out for its unexpectedly mature narrative and superb level design. A few too cryptic puzzles and the massive amount of text could frighten users looking for a "pure" metroidvania. This doesn't affect the personality of Iconoclasts, which reveals itself to be a truly, great game.

Iconoclasts isn't a trendsetter within its genre on a mechanical level. It has great puzzles and poorly-handled combat. Yet there's such huge amounts of time and personality poured into how Iconoclasts looks, and how its game world is built up, that it's easy to forgive such issues. It's a gorgeous 2D puzzle platformer with interesting characters, and that is enough to see it rise above merely being 'good'.

This is a perfect weekend game: cheerful, fun, challenging but not too demanding. It successfully recreates the atmosphere and sense of adventure of the 90s 2D action-adventures that inspired it, and occasionally betters them.

An excellent platform game with great mechanics that also offers a heavy story.

While Iconoclasts may not reinvent the platformer, it does do the basics of the genre extremely well. When combined with a resonant, engaging story and colorful style, the title emerges as a great example of the power of one man's persistence and vision.

Iconoclasts blends a complex story with neat puzzle platforming, and does so in great style. The game’s length occasionally works against it, and the boss fights aren’t all winners, but the story is worth seeing through to the end thanks to a memorable cast of characters and plenty of variety along the way. It’s just a very robust, unique game that you’d be a tool to miss.

There’s a lot to like about Iconoclasts, but it unfortunately never makes the jump from good to great. Not only does it fall into some of the pitfalls that other platformers have exposed throughout the years, it also lacks any innovation that truly wows.

Perhaps Iconoclasts just tries to do a bit too much of everything, which is stunning considering it has come from a single person’s creative drive, which is so compellingly impressive. A decent edit of the script, fewer bosses and puzzle repetitions, and the rest could have been refined even more.

An old school game that may be too old on things like variety, but beyond that you'll love this indie proposal if you are into metroidvania games.