The last title I have to write about tonight is coincidentally the last game I played tonight. I think indie developer Intrinsic has something very special in their hands with their DSiware game, Reflection. Reflection’s intriguing and addictive catch is in its core gameplay– it’s a side scrolling platformer with a simple, but ingenious element. There is a full story to the game that I actually do not know about, but players unlock story snippets by finding Journal Entries spread throughout the twenty-four or so levels that you will experience.
That said, the catchy element I was referring to is derived directly from the game’s name, reflection. The image on the top screen is mirrored over the x-axis (horizontal) axis onto the bottom screen. So, your character on the top screen is upright and the world looks entirely normal, but on the bottom screen, everything is upside down. As you move with the d-pad, both characters move simultaneously. The hazard in these levels is in falling, so you have to keep an eye on both screens as you platform your way from left to right and from bottom to top to get to the stage end marker. Besides some environmental hazards like falling and objects that move up and down in a smashing motion, I believe the only real challenge in the game lies in the clever puzzles that come out of having to control two characters who are mirrored to one another.
This works really well because it makes you pause briefly to think about how you are going to get both characters to the stage exit. Sometimes this will require a basic literal change in play whereby you no longer look at the top screen to see where to go or what to jump on, but instead you look at the bottom screen (and vice versa). In the next night or two, we will have our HD footage of the game up, so be sure to check back for it.
Set to release in about two months for 800 points, Reflection looks to me like it will be one of the best titles on DSiware for a long time.
