Kraino Origins
Developer: GameAtomicGames
It can be difficult, when browsing through the games marketplace, to find some of the hidden gems in the plethora of choices. And whilst Kraino Origins might not have the most sparkling stand-out visual style, what it does have at its core is love.
On the surface, Kraino Origins doesn’t deviate massively from the generally accepted formula of the platformer. You’re going to find yourself going from A-to-B, killing some monsters, and collecting money to spend on upgrades. But that’s exactly what makes it special. The entire game is a love letter to the genre, with a few modern touches.
The first of those is your death, which will be frequent. When you die, all is not lost if you have the skills. Your well-earned cash will be waiting for you where you perished, all you need to do is get to it. How very Souls-like. The next is movement and combat, which is a simple affair of jumping and slashing. Very simple indeed, but it works. When you hit anything, you bounce off it. Sometimes this is going to lead to even more of that dying thing as you pogo around a ledge, but it’s also a useful tool for avoiding enemies or grabbing a secret.
The secrets hidden offer their challenge. One of which is finding them. Breakable walls and objects are deftly woven into the levels, so you’re going to have to be eagle-eyed to spot them (or just eager to hit every wall until one breaks). Oh, but it’s not just a case of grabbing them as you go through. Health upgrades come in the form of an emblem which you need to reassemble from multiple pieces in each level, and you need to get them all in one run. Similarly, the merchants willing to sell you new abilities are hidden, and they each only sell one thing. If you can’t afford the upgrade when you find them, you’re going to have to come back later, get to them again, and then complete the level. Punishing, yes, but that’s kind of the point.
Visually, it’s presented in 16-bit style, which it does well enough. There’s some disparity in detail between some of the enemies, with some having a more 3D look, and others being quite flat. Each of the 8 levels, however, does look very distinct. The whole affair is very gothic yet whimsical. Not least of all the main character themselves - an armoured skeleton with a scythe and a tophat. Whilst there isn’t much to say about the audio - which is nicely done for the most part - there is a jumping noise that’s at odds with the sound design. It’s a little too midi-feel compared to the more polished music.
The game as is is satisfying enough to play, but development hasn’t stopped. The creator, GameAtomic, has been working hard on fully remaking it. They’ve redone character and enemy designs, and reworked levels, including adding one and including branching paths. They’ve also reworked all the graphics, significantly heightening the consistency and presentation.
The entire journey is regularly documented on their social media, along with details of the upcoming Kickstarter. A lot of work was put into the original, and that looks far surpassed in the remake. It’s clear GameAtomic loves what they make, and they’re willing to push it further with what they’ve learned along the way. The original is a hidden gem, and the next version looks to have been polished up to a mirror sheen.
