Lunistice Review

Initial release date: November 10, 2022

Engine: Unity

Publisher: Deck13

Developer: A Grumpy Fox

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows

Genres: Platform game, Indie game, Adventure

"Review Copy Provided By PR Hound"

There was a lot of hype amongst the retro gaming community for a game called Lunistice which is effectively a modern game that would fit right at home in the 32-bit era of gaming. What I often would hear from people who played it is how it is basically what a Sega Saturn Sonic would’ve been if we had gotten Sonic X-Treme. You can tell that the developers over at A Grumpy Fox clearly have a strong love of that era and wanted to create a franchise that shows the how great that era was and so the question that I’m here to try and answer today is does Lunistice live up to that era and possibly exceed it or is it another tried and true collect-a-thon that doesn’t rock the boat enough? Let’s find out.

The story of Lunisitice is told in what modern gamers would consider unconventional, while older generational gamers will find to be par for the course of the 32-bit era as you only get very brief glimpses of the story from various documents that you find within the game. This makes it very simplistic, but it also leaves a lot to interpretation and doesn’t do much to overshadow it’s literal simplicity, if that makes any sense. You are the tanooki Hana who is a kunoichi and that’s about as much as you need to know.

When it comes to the gameplay, they game is incredibly enjoyable and is easy to pick up and play. You control Hana and you can move about the using the left analog while using the right analog to move the camera about. The game only really uses three buttons with A being your jump, Y being your spin attack, and B being used to walk instead of run; all of these buttons are also mapped to the shoulder buttons. The general gist of the gameplay is you running through each zone to get to the end as fast as you can while also trying to collect the hidden letters that spell out HANA that allows you to access a special item that can be gained if you go past the end level.

Because the game is very much focused on the on platforming and encourages exploration, I don’t really see a lot of the comparisons to Sonic beyond the way the way the levels open up with the zone graphic as the game to me plays more like an amalgamation of Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter meets Rayman in a way as you never reach the speed of Sonic in anyway shape or form. You will need to run, jump, and spin attack your way through numerous zones with a few simplistic enemies that are often in the way and easily disposed of with the biggest challenge being that you need to perfect the platforming by way of the double jump into the spin attack that nets you a third jump.

Aside from collecting the letters to spell HANA, you can collect origami cranes that add to your end level score and ranking with S-ranking being the highest you can get. The levels are very straightforward A to B affairs with there being a few divergent points of which will lead you to the letters and then will bring you back to the main course track. The game isn’t very long and can be beaten within 5 hours and is at such a good price point that regardless of if you play it on PC or Nintendo Switch and is great for all ages.

I played this on PC and on the Steam Deck and the game ran super smooth. The games’ visual style works perfectly for this style of game and honestly if this came out in 1995 or 1996 for the Sega Saturn then it would’ve been a huge hit. The soundtrack of this game hits that Klonoa and Sonic feel and just fires on all the right cylinders.

So, is Lunistice worth your time and money? I definitely think that it is and is definitely one of the surprise hits and releases of the year and is a great pick up for your Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck!