Poncho is a game that, a week ago, I was essentially unfamiliar with. However, it was highlighted on Nintendo’s eShop update this week, along with a trailer, and it instantly hooked me. We at PSVG reached out the to the development team and they were gracious enough to supply us with a press copy of the game. I played the game on the Wii U, entirely on the gamepad, but it is alsoPoncho is a game that, a week ago, I was essentially unfamiliar with. However, it was highlighted on Nintendo’s eShop update this week, along with a trailer, and it instantly hooked me. We at PSVG reached out the to the development team and they were gracious enough to supply us with a press copy of the game. I played the game on the Wii U, entirely on the gamepad, but it is also available on PS4, Vita, PC and Mac.
Poncho is an old-school 8-bit syle platformer, but with a major twist. You have the ability to jump into the background and foreground, adding depth to what otherwise would be a 2-D, side-scrolling adventure. The story is about a robot who awakens to discover a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has totally disappeared. What happened is a mystery at the start of the game, but it is up to our Poncho-wearing hero to find out what happened and attempt to restore humanity. The landscape is primarily made up of ruined buildings that have now become overgrown with vines and vegetation, with no signs of life other than the occasional robots you run into that are constantly questioning their own existence on this planet (or what remains of it). The overall style of the game is phenomenal and instantly brought me back to the good old days of NES gaming. The controls are very simple for anyone to use: B button to jump, right trigger to jump into the foreground, and the left trigger to jump into the background. It’s that simple. The game is very easy to play, but not easy to master. There are many skilled timed jumps needed to get to certain areas of the game, which could easily cause some gamers to rage quit. However I pushed through and continued on my quest to get to the red tower. I will keep the rest of the story spoiler-free for those of you that want to play it after reading this.
The music, along with the art style and innovative gameplay mechanics, are what make this game shine. The soundtrack adds to the wonder of the levels and has an almost eerie feel to it, but nostalgic to some great scores, like a Chrono Trigger or early Final Fantasy games. The game is not terribly long, but does have some replay for completionists to revisit to unlock every door and collect every gem (for the sake of getting this review out, I have not, YET). Gamers familiar with old-school platformers can expect this game to last 4-6 hours; novices can expect 5-7 hours; and completionists might need 7-8 hours to collect everything.
No game is without flaws; therefore, it is necessary to point out a few I found in Poncho. Fortunately, no flaws were so glaring that they deterred me from playing the game. A few times, the game slowed down when a lot of animated objects were on screen at the same time. Also, the game kind of just throws you into the mix without much (if any) explanation of what you are supposed to be doing. For any of you that will try this one out, I will help you out a bit: Collect as many red gems as you can so that you can buy keys from the creepy robot in a trench coat who flashes you. This way, you can unlock doors as they get into your way, in search of each level’s “launch-pad” that will take you to the next level. The other concern I had, at times, was the jumping from foreground to background. At times, it was unclear where to go, and sometimes, I couldn’t see where I was going (or trying to) when I was in between the different layers. However, this was not something that ruined the game for me, and it shouldn’t keep you from it, either.
The last thing I want to highlight is this game’s ending. I will not spoil it with details, but I will tell you, I was not expecting anything like the ending I saw from a game that didn’t give much guidance along the way. It was a great ending, and definitely serves as a payoff for some of the rage you may experience while jumping around for 3 or 4 hours.
Overall, I think this a great game for anyone who is a fan of the 8-bit retro-inspired indie games. Poncho, instead of parodying the genre, will feel like a homecoming to those who grew up with these types of games. Combine its very different gameplay mechanics with a great score and, overall, you have yourself a winner. It was a great summer game that I was able to jump in and out of when I had the time, and I loved every minute of it. I cannot wait to see what this dev team has up their sleeves next. I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to this and Fez; however, I enjoyed Poncho more. Congratulations, Danny Hayes (Designer/Coder/Writer), Jack O’Dell (Composer/Designer), and Matt Weekes (Artist/Character Designer) – you have earned a new fan and I can’t wait to see what you have planned next!
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