Adventures of Pip

 Wii U
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. FNintendo
    Feb 19, 2016
    70
    Adventures of Pip is another welcome title to the growing library of platformers that make an extensive use of pixel art and boast a retro-style visual inspiration as well as multiple puzzle-solving. Each level brings new elements to keep the players closely around the game and its level of challenge goes beyond the plot, encouraging the player to explore and go further.
  2. Gaming Age
    Jun 12, 2015
    67
    As it is, it’s a competent action-platform game that is enjoyable to play, but won’t ever reach the status of a triple-A must-play experience.

Awards & Rankings

16
#16 Best Wii U Game of 2015
30
#30 Most Discussed Wii U Game of 2015
37
#37 Most Shared Wii U Game of 2015

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 12 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
  1. AGWS
    Sep 3, 2015
    5
    In this game's world, your resolution is your caste and Pip is at the bottom of that ladder. Those neat little bits of world building areIn this game's world, your resolution is your caste and Pip is at the bottom of that ladder. Those neat little bits of world building are really the only things Adventures of Pip has going for it. The writing is either really charming or awful, with little inbetween. The villain is great and she makes a lot of references to pixels and resolution and game graphics related things, but it's never in your face and crappy like most games when they get self-referential. Then there are some knight allies who they try to go more straight jokey with but none of it is funny (okay, ONE joke got me to laugh). And it's not done in a dad-joke, they're so lame and that's why they're funny kind of way, they're just poorly written, uninteresting characters. There's a "twist" with the knights late in the game, but it's absolutely meaningless. It changes nothing and has no bearing at all for anything that you've been through.
    The actual gameplay for AoP is almost aggressively average and then saddled with some frustrating decisions. It incessantly beeps when your health is low. That alone is an egregious sin of game design. Beeping when your health first drops or a quick short beep now and again if you maintain low health, those are fine, but a constant beep that you can do nothing about is in no way helpful. Until an enemy randomly drops a healing item or you find a checkpoint, an incessant reminder of your low health does not serve you in any manner. The load times are oddly long and the game gets sluggish and hitchy in odd places (like collecting items from a chest, bouncing off enemies, or riding in a moving platform). The levels can, at best, be described as “inoffensive”. They have super bland music (bland to the point that it's kind of annoying), repeated gimmicks, and the level itself doesn't do anything interesting or push you in any way, or even hint that there's anything grander beyond it. It's like a whole game of level 3-2 in Super Mario Brothers. Nobody remembers what was in 3-2, but you played it and it was probably adequate at the time and moved you closer to a boss fight, but that particular level was just... there. Level 2-1 is the last time you gain any new powers or unlock anything for the town. Most worlds have eight levels and there are five worlds, so the game is front loaded with your new forms and powers and then the item and weapon upgrade shops, and then there's a whole lot of nothing for the rest of the game. The levels are loaded with fake floors and walls so you spend about as much time pressing yourself into walls or head bumping ceilings as you do actually playing that, but the game also punishes you for doing it. For starters, your head can inexplicably get stuck in the ceiling, killing you instantly, but there are also a lot of areas that once you enter them or jump up to a hanging spot on the ceiling to look for a fake wall, you're stuck up there or a platform has passed you, so you have to kill yourself and warp back to the last checkpoint. Most of the secrets are chests, but they pay out so little money that it's not really worth going out of your way to get them. The village does contain some good upgrades like damage reduction, extra health, and some bonus moves, but they're fairly expensive for what chests pay out. HOWEVER, the first screen of the first level is a great grinding spot, so once I got to world 2 and could buy the money doubler upgrade, I just took an hour, farmed that screen like crazy and bought almost every upgrade. This had the major advantage of boosting my defense and life high enough that I rarely had to hear that damned beeping, chests were even less important so I could stop caring about testing for fake floors and walls, and I had a never ending stock of invincibility items, revives, or items that point out where the hidden villagers were (they're the main collectible. Kind of). Probably not how the designers intended their secrets to work. Outside of the weapon and item shop owners, the villagers have no purpose and you never feel like rescuing them has any impact on the town or game. They just stand around or walk the same route saying the exact same line through the entire game. They never help you, they never give you anything, and they never unlock something, so even in the simple role of being collectibles, they're as awful as their beards.
    Even Pip himself isn't enjoyable. The whole game is so slow. Pixel Pip and high-res Pip move at a snail's pace and there are a lot of screens where you're waiting for a hazard to move before you can advance. Rooms are designed so that you're almost always forced to watch the platforms complete a cycle before you can move forward. No matter how quickly you get to that room, the platform spawns just out of your jumping distance, so you have to stand there and do nothing for a cycle even though you know what to do or have been in the room before. AoP may have heart, but that's about it.    … Full Review »
  2. FriedConsole
    Jan 14, 2016
    9
    Often games try to combine two genres together and they almost always fail. Some of the time it does one of the genres better but most of theOften games try to combine two genres together and they almost always fail. Some of the time it does one of the genres better but most of the time you feel it didn’t do either genre very well. Adventures of Pip actually manages to combine pure 2D platforming with a puzzle game and is suprising good at both genres.
    The eponymous Pip can take three forms with different abilities: an Atari 2600 square pixel, an eight-bit sprite, and a Super Nintendo-esque sprite. Changing forms, often in mid-air, will give you the ability to solve puzzles and progress through the stages. Progress is not difficult but obtaining all the collectibles, often hidden, can be challenging. Useful upgrades can be purchased from collectables but most don’t change the game too much. As someone who usually hates boss stages, I found them delightful in Adventures of Pip.
    The story is harmless lighthearted fluff with meta jokes that range from truly funny to groan inducing. The art style is a tired retro look that probably has been used by too many games but is always pleasant on the eyes. The music is fantastic but doesn’t feature enough songs so finishing a world greatest reward is the ability to listen to another song.
    My biggest criticism of the game is that it actually becomes easier towards the end by accumulating health and buying additional abilities. Players expecting a hard challenge should look elsewhere.
    Overall I am surprised by how much I love this game as it could have easily been just another 2D retro puzzle platformer. Adventures of Pip isn’t a revolution in gaming but it does achieve the rare accomplishment of being a fun platformer and a delightful puzzle game.    … Full Review »
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