I played this game on St. Patrick's Day since the creator, Terry Cavanagh, is a fellow Irishman. I thought if I was going to play a game on the day, it should be an Irish one. I was delighted then, when VVVVVV turned out to be a really great time. I cannot claim that it represents or celebrates Irish culture in any particular way, apart from maybe our long history of high quality exports to other countries; Cavanagh is based in London now, and that is where he developed this game.

Despite the short runtime, the game's fast pace allows it to explore its core mechanic completely. The concept of VVVVVV is that instead of a standard jump, your "jump" button causes gravity to flip, causing the player to fall towards the ceiling or the floor on an alternating basis. Combined with a variety of different environmental modifiers, Cavanagh manages to deliver a truly challenging and creative platformer, without it ever becoming too frustrating or tiring. The game is all about execution, with each room having a fairly obvious route, but requiring specific and precise execution of the controls to make it to the other side. Having the game broken into these rooms, much like in Celeste, which was released some years later, allows for the pace to be maintained and for an endlessly satisfying experience for the player.

The game will not be too difficult for anyone to beat, but the inclusion of 20 optional collectibles provides extra challenge for players who want more. These challenges come in many different forms, such as especially difficult platforming sections or taking advantage of the game's systems to reach previously inaccessible areas. Each feels cleverly designed, and I felt as though the game was goading me into figuring out how to reach each one.

With that said, I only ended up getting seventeen out of twenty. This was because of a particular section towards the end of the game, where I could not stop to try and reach the collectibles I needed again and again. I would have started the whole section again, but it just so happened that the crew member located in this area was the last I needed to rescue, and once I had achieved this I was forced into completing the final section of the game. It is kind of a pity, and I would have appreciated a warning and a chance to explore the map to its fullest before I wrapped up the playthrough.

On that point, I believe that the fill-in map should not have been included in this game. It was undeniably useful, and contributed to the short runtime, but the way the rest of the game evokes retro platformers does not really fit with the map for me. Cavanagh himself said this game was a chance for him to indulge his "retro fetish", which makes me think that this addition was more concession than consideration. The general world is not that hard to explore, so removing the map and simply allowing players to wander around, accepting that they will inevitably get lost would, I believe, provide for a better sense of being lost on an alien world. It would heighten the sense of accomplishment when you finally track down each crew member, and make it more difficult to uncover secrets.

This is a small gripe, really. The main focus of the game is the platforming sections, and this setup allowed Cavanagh to have players remain focused on that while giving them the sense of one game, not one divided into a number of individual levels, selected from a menu. It is a valid compromise, and one I think I can live with.

Finally, I want to mention the art direction in this game. They are truly striking, which is not something I expected. Here Cavanagh really did indulge his "retro fetish", but not without adding some more modern elements such as animated backgrounds which, although subtle, add to the impact of the visuals. Almost every time the room changes the walls are a different colour, not only allowing the player to orient themselves, but almost jolting them awake, screaming at them to pay attention. I loved it and although I would love to see it again, it would be hard to execute outside of a creation specifically designed with it in mind, such as this one.

Overall, I would really recommend VVVVVV to anyone who wants to have a short, but extremely unique platforming experience. The game offers great gameplay and striking visuals which combine to create a comprehensive work that is definitely worth the perseverance required to complete it.

You couldn't release VVVVVV today and expect it to attain even half the success that it did back in 2010. It's often cruel, it's incredibly short, the exploration is largely defunct, the story is basic to the point of it might as well not be there and the title is so difficult to say aloud that it makes spreading word of mouth significantly more challenging. By the standards of indie games today, VVVVVV plays more like a proof of concept than anything that could rival the likes of the Outer Wilds, Hades or Celeste. But by god is it brilliant.

If you've never played or heard of VVVVVV before now, then I'll explain. Created by Terry Cavanagh (the man behind Super Hexagon and Dicey Dungeons), VVVVVV is a 2D platformer where your jump ability has been replaced instead by a gravity switch button. You explore a small open world that seems like a metroidvania but is in fact just the connective tissue between fairly enclosed levels. These levels each introduce a new wrinkle on the formula, such as lines that switch your gravity on contact or a sudden auto-scrolling level. Along the way you can collect up to twenty bonus "trinkets", which are often accompanied by a controller smashing level of challenge. While the game starts out simple enough, it doesn't take long at all before you have to pull off feats of such incredible dexterity that you'll be pulling your hair out long before you suddenly manage it.

The biggest problem with VVVVVV is simply its movement. Your character (Captain Viridian) starts on a dime, moving at full pelt immediately, but slips when stopping. These means that more often than not your deaths are down to that inch of slippage that happens after you let go of the button, which never stops feeling frustrating. I can't bring myself to say that the movement is bad though, as truly there's no other game that feels like VVVVVV to control. Essentially, what this contradictory momentum does is punish you for hesitation. Play it safe and move too cautiously, and you will face a far higher risk much of the time than if you just gun it to your goal. That said, there are plenty of instances where it just feels like bullshit.

Despite the frequent frustration, VVVVVV has a fantastic sense of humour. Not in its dialogue or its visuals, but in its level design. I can't think of another game that had me chuckling as often as this one did. Most deaths felt like my fault, and either were telegraphed by the game enough that I didn't blame it, or were just plain funny. The music too just fucking slaps, with every single track knocking it out of the park. It's not quite on the same symphonic level as Super Hexagon, but very, very few games are, so coming even slightly close is a great achievement indeed.

I will always love VVVVVV. Part of that is nostalgia, I can't deny that, but I also can't deny the rough edges that are here. But at the end of the day, it's just so cute and made me smile too much for me to ever truly blame it for those faults. If you've never had the pleasure, pick VVVVVV up. It's short, it's cheap and it's fun (mostly).