Is it still hip to be square?
Flatland – Vol. 1 is a fast-paced hardcore platformer featuring hand-crafted levels and Lightning-fast respawns. Help Square survive his journey to the depths of Flatland, a minimalist neon-style 2D world.
There has been an increase over the years for platformers of tougher difficulty, from the likes of Super Meat Boy to the diabolical creations from players in the Super Mario Maker series. Flatland Vol 1 attempts to enter this market with neon-styled 2D levels in which you control a basic square that can run, jump, wall jump across difficult areas with spikes, bottomless pits and enemies which can all one-hit kill you.
The good news is that each level is only one room long and these can be short, but its all about the timing to reach the door on the other side. There are also hidden doors leading to extra levels and each level has collectible squares that will unlock other modes which has you racing against the developer, outrunning a boss across all courses and an arena mode where Square has to kill everything that moves.
It’ll take a good while to get all these as the last mode itself requires 10,000 squares and it’s hard to tell if the game will still be as enjoyable when you get there, but that aside it’s a nice challenge and one that is fun to play in either short bursts or for a long time. Volume 1 would imply that a sequel is in the works, so I wonder what they’ll add to that to make it an even more enjoyable experience?
The Verdict
Flatland – Vol 1 is fast paced, challenging and rewarding. While it doesn’t have the same finesse as its competitors, its still a highly enjoyable game and one worthy of your Switch library.