Overview – developed by Sagitta Studios and published by Eastasiasoft, Mechanita is a precision platformer, with puzzle elements taking place across 50 stages that increase in complexity. As the goggle wearing heroine, run, jump and shoot to make it past the hazards of each stage, but be careful as one mistake makes sends you back to the start. This title is available on all console platforms, with a link to each version of the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank Eastasiasoft for providing the copy of Mechanita that was used for this piece. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the intrductions out of the way, let’s get into the review. There is no story in this release, so I will be going straight into discussing the gameplay for Mechanita.
Gameplay – Mechanita is a precision platformer, where the player must overcome the challenges of 50 puzzling stages. In each of the stages the player can run, jump and shoot with their blaster, making their way to the end goal of the levels. All stages are made of a single screen, filled with platforms and hazards. The challenges start of pretty simple, but become more complex with new gimmicks as the game progresses.
During the early stages of the game, the layouts will have spikes, moving platforms and gaps to cross. When the player crosses set stage milestones, there will be additional gimmicks and threats added to the stages. The first threat that players will encounter are the robo helmets, which will move back and forth, killing the player if contact is made. But if the player blasts them with their gun, they will be able to use them as steps.
Then as the player gets further into the game, more hazards and gimmicks will be introduced. There will be enhanced helmet robos, which can be used to spring the player to enhanced heights. The further the players get, the more challenges are added, like moving platform bots, which will fall or stay in place when shot. The player will need to use these to traverse the spike pits, as they will increase in number in later stages.
Then we get onto the enemies that can shoot at the player. There will be bots that can blast the payer with energy shots, with the only way to stop them being to shoot the bullets or the bots. However, these bots will only be stunned for a time, before being able to shoot at the player again. All of these dangers make the stages challenging, and thankfully, there are no lives in this game and players can keep retrying if they fail.
As a precision platformer, there is an emphasis on movement and tight platform jumping. Unfortunately, this is the weakest part of the experience, as the momentum and physics feel rough. This is most noticeable when trying to make tight jumps, as the player will need to jump at the last second to have a chance to succeed. If the player lets go of the direction being held for a split second, they will fall immediately.
All of the little inconsistencies of the general platforming mechanics can make this frustrating, but it is possible to adapt to the awkward momentum. There are 50 stages in this game for players to challenge, which can be retried and replayed from the main menu. There is some decent replay value in this game, but there would be more if there was a timer or some way to track a score. But as it is, the experience is solid.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – the controls for this release are easy to pick up, with an arcade style to the inputs. There is a jump and shoot button, which have a bit of an unusual layout to them. The jump button is on the face, but the shoot button uses the right shoulder. This appears strange at first, but does make sense as the player needs to keep the jump button held to get maximum height. Overall it is different to others in the genre, but works pretty well.
Difficulty – this is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to difficulty, as the precision platforming can be a little too precise. The player can die over and over when being just short of a jump, which can be very frustrating for players. There will also be stages where the difficulty spikes, leading to more unfortunate deaths during play. Thankfully, there is infinite retries for the player to use during play, which does lessen the pain of failure.
Presentation – from a visual perspective, the game looks quite nice, with a simple and colourful pixel art style. All of the sprites and elements can be seen very well, especially when the game is in handheld mode, which is a flaw of some precision platformers. The background is equally vibrant, tying the visuals together. The sound is decent, with some good effects and a soundtrack that has a spacey feel to it but can feel repetitive.
Final Thoughts – There is a deep rooted love for 2D platformers in me, having played them since I was a kid. So when I get the chance to check out a new one, I am always happy to give it a go. This was a fun but flawed experience, as the precision elements of the platforming and the momentum of jumping were a little awkward in execution. This was a little frustrating during play, as some of the sections felt like they were made to be overly hard.
It is a relatively short experience with only 50 stages, which works with the pricing as it is a budget release. This makes it easy to recommend for those looking for a cheap and cheerful little game, as it offers a good amount of content in a modest package. It can be a frustrating experience, with sudden spikes in difficulty, which may put some players off. But it can be a satisfying experience for those who stick it out to the end.
In the end, I give Mechanita a final score of 3/5. This is a fun but flawed platformer, with difficulty spikes that can spoil an otherwise enjoyable experience, but it has enough content to keep players engaged at a fairly low price point. If you want to check this title out for yourself, a link to each version of the game will be below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to PlayStation version (HERE)
Link to Xbox version (HERE)
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