Game Review #159: Necrosphere Deluxe (Nintendo Switch)
Reviewer: Allan J.
Developer: Cat Nigiri
Publisher: Unties
Category: Action, Platforming
Release Date: 01.31.2019
Price (at time of review): $7.99
Buy Necrosphere Deluxe from the Nintendo eShop here.
Your Suffering Will Be Legendary, Even In Hell…
So basically, the Necrosphere is hell. You play a cop who dies in a gun fight. You wake up in the Necrosphere with naught but a few signs on the wall from your colleagues offering what limited guidance they can. You see, apparently, you can escape the Necrosphere, but it’s not going to be easy. Luckily, you can’t technically die in the Necrosphere, so you have all of eternity to figure out where the exit is located.
Everybody Gets Two…
So here’s the rundown… you have 2 buttons. That’s it. Left and right. No, not both on the D-pad… that would be too natural. No, here the left is the left D-pad button, and right is A… or you can use the left and right trigger or shoulder buttons. If you hit any other buttons though, a pop-up explaining the controls will appear, blocking your screen and likely making you miss whatever jump you were attempting.
You have no jump button. Yes, this is a platformer. How do you get to these platforms without jumping? Easy… gravity bubbles. You bounce off of them by running into them and launching up to the next platform. Everything must be precision-timed and accurate to almost the millisecond sometimes in order to clear some of the obstacles here. It is absolutely 100% rage-inducing. For some reason, I seem to enjoy torturing myself with this type of game. I recently reviewed kuso, which I thought, at the time, was one of the most challenging and rage-inducing games I had ever played. It still is, but next to Necrosphere Deluxe, it seems more like Super Mario Bros. 3 at this point. I’m probably exaggerating. kuso is b*#$% and a half too…
Anywho… So this game is hard. I can’t beat it. I think the whole thing is one giant stage, Metroid-style, but I can’t be sure of it. I’ve spent over 2 hours playing this game, and I may still be on the first level. I feel like I may need all of eternity to finish this one.
Audio/Visuals
The look and sound of Necrosphere Deluxe is full-on 8-bit goodness. Pixel-art to the max, and awesome midi music to boot. You even get an 8-bit pink spandex ballet outfit to wear at a certain point in the game! I love it. I just love how retro is making such a comeback in the indie world of Switch right now. I loved the graphics. They really did a good job creating a believable look for what is essentially Hell.
Wrapping Up
At the end of the day, I had to put Necrosphere down and take a break from it. I think I may have felt my left eye droop a little bit the last time I played it. I will try it again one day when the rage subsides—probably tomorrow or something—and try again. The game is ridiculously difficult, but not impossible. When you clear an obstacle course that looked like Game Genie couldn’t even help you with, it is a nice feeling. I feel like I am exercising my brain when I play this game. That, or it may be a stroke… not sure… but at any rate, I would recommend this game to anyone who loves a good challenge; but if you have a tendency to rage-quit or break controllers, you may want to pass on this one, because Joy-Cons are expensive!
Score: 8/10
Buy Necrosphere Deluxe from the Nintendo eShop here.
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*Review Code Provided by Stride PR