Go! Go! GOTY! 2021: Game 3: StarBoy
by mento
Game : mrkdji's StarBoy . Release Month : May. Quick Look : N/A. Started : 09/01. Completed : 09/01. Whether it's due to game jam s or the developer having their attention split five different directions at any given moment, there's a huge number of tiny Indie projects out there that seem to be inspired by one great idea taken as far as it alone can go, like a "wouldn't it be cool if" notion cr...
- Game: mrkdji's StarBoy.
- Release Month: May.
- Quick Look: N/A.
- Started: 09/01.
- Completed: 09/01.
Whether it's due to game jams or the developer having their attention split five different directions at any given moment, there's a huge number of tiny Indie projects out there that seem to be inspired by one great idea taken as far as it alone can go, like a "wouldn't it be cool if" notion crystallized and framed within a typical genre template. That feels like it was the case for StarBoy, a short monochromatic platformer presently available only on Itch.io and given away as part of their Indie bundle for Palestinian Aid from last summer. Its particular "wouldn't it be cool if" idea is absorbing nearby light sources for the temporary ability to walk on thin air and change the immediate environment.
StarBoy has a handful of stages that each conceive of a different way of using this power-up to its fullest effect, gradually increasing the challenge level of these platforming puzzles in the process as games of its genre are wont to do. However, it starts by introducing some familiar if welcome controls before any of its gimmicks - there's a wall-jump, for one, and an ability to pick up objects and carry them with you under certain conditions (such as not using ladders) - as well as a set of collectibles with their own rules inspired by Extremely OK Games's Celeste, chiefly in that you need to touch down on solid ground before they'll "count." On top of this it has an exceptionally fair respawn system that simply drops you off at the nearest safe piece of solid ground no worse for the wear, likewise respawning any moving platforms back to their starting positions to avoid waiting around for their return.
The light aura is enough for me to walk to that collectible on the left and back without hitting either pair of spikes. In theory. That light aura vanishes pretty quickly though...Contacting any source of light, represented as a ball of white that inverts the color of the normally white-on-black sprites, allows StarBoy to walk across air like it was a platform, though he will fall if he should jump at any point or the light aura around him fully dissipates. Early on this just involves absorbing nearby lights and running across narrow tunnels filled with spikes before it runs out, or staying within the aura of a light-bearing NPC as it follows a patrol path, but later levels start playing around with blocks that are incorporeal in darkness but solid in light, requiring that you flit between either state to effectively use them. One late-game area has you using your wall jumps to stay between two pillars of these blocks, leaping into the next pair once the light runs out and reapplying it to keep moving up and on.
Finding all the collectibles makes for the game's tougher challenges, as they'll often detour into self-contained areas with special blocks that don't qualify as safe for the purposes of both collectibles and respawns alike, requiring you complete the circuit and escape out the other side to keep your progress and any collectibles found within. These little "unsafe" arenas tend to be purely optional and off the core path, and none are so extensive to risk frustrating the audience, but still offer some moderate difficulty platforming for those looking to be tested. While there's no immediate option to return to any stages once you've completed them, upon completing the game's final stage there's a stage select for those seeking any missing collectibles or looking for an overall better completion time or lower death count; I'm not sure if the latter two changes anything, but there's a cute surprise in store for finding all one hundred of its twinkling tchotchkes.
These exclamation marks mean no bueno as far as saving progress is concerned, so if I want to keep these two collectibles I'll need to make it all the way to the end.StarBoy's brief enough that it regularly feels more like a demo than a full game, though it's also one of those games where you feel like it probably couldn't get away with being much larger than it already is in case it stretches its light-bearing gimmick too thin. It's the sort of thing you might see in a single Mario level and wonder why there weren't more levels taking advantage of this tech, such is the rare privilege of a full-budget Nintendo game to toss around a dozen wonderful innovations per world and never feel the need to return and expand upon them further. As it is, StarBoy's a fun little throwaway with enough smart ideas and functional controls to monopolize a lunch break or two, if not a whole lot beyond that.
Current 2021 GOTY Ranking: