https://libra-bits.itch.io/astro-fox

Prepare for an interstellar journey like no other in Astro Fox, a captivating metroidvania experience that will transport you to the far reaches of the cosmos. As Astro Fox, a battle-hardened space mercenary, your mission unfolds on the enigmatic planet Nova, a once tranquil hub for research and travelers. But now, it harbors a chilling secret – the creation of a devastating biological weapon.

A nearly-free exploration platformer presented in nice, chunky two-color graphics. I'm glad to continue to see games use this style on the PC; aside from being aesthetically pleasing, it can make for crystal-clear graphics with no ambiguity for precise games.

And that is what we have here. Astro Fox lands on Nova, a strangely deserted research station. (Aren't they all?) With the help of logbooks scattered around the game world, Fox can put together a very unpleasant picture of what happened here.

To make matters worse, one of Fox's old enemies has preceded him here, and will repeatedly ambush him as a recurring boss fight, each time bringing new moves and new weapons.

Technically, you have a complete map of the planet from almost the get-go. Filling in the map is the tricky part, as it very aggressively does not show obstacles, sealed entrances, one-way passages, or areas where a powerup is necessary to proceed.

(I strongly recommend taking notes on areas where you can't proceed, as you don't want to find yourself stumped because you've obtained a new upgrade and can't remember where you were supposed to use it. Not that, uh, that happened to me repeatedly or anything.)

For a game that's so unprepossessing at the outset, there is a lot of gameplay here. While I was seemingly able to get quite far in my first session, the map was only half filled in and there were still a host of obstacles I had no idea how to remove. It took a few more sessions to complete at a total of 5:01:07.

(I notice, though, that even with the whole map filled in and the game completed, I only had 80% completion...)

Windows only.