User Reviews

The best way to summarize this game is that GalaxyTrail has combined every good aspect of nineteen nineties gaming and only improved on them all, with near-perfect gameplay, absolutely gorgeous pixel art, and best of all, a fantastic music score that just makes you happy when you listen to it; this last point is one aspect that actually bridges the design best between classic 2D games and modern Sonic games, switching from a more retro-techno sound to a beautiful orchestral, acoustic, and vocal track. And the boss fights call back to the classics, as well, in the sense that they are unrelentingly hard and are created for the most experienced of gamers (you can choose Casual difficulty to practice learning their attack patterns without consequences). With the inspiration for many of the main characters actually coming from the fan-loved Sonic title "Sonic Heroes", one could expect the story to be unrelentingly campy and juvenile. Many people say that the story for "Freedom Planet" is extremely bad. However, when comparing it to all of the Sonic games I've played, I can certainly say that the plot is actually decent. The writers were able to combine comedic lighthearted elements (one of which they sadly deleted in an update; it was a surprising if awkward character moment for Carol, since it reminded me that she's only a 12-year-old girl--with the weight of the entire planet of Avalice on her shoulders!) with dark moments that help to show the true stakes the heroes are facing (the Pegi rating is 12+, after all). The voice acting ranges from bad a couple of times to incredibly well done, especially in the case of Lord Brevon. Unlike Dr. Eggman, I can take him very seriously as a threatening villain. If you aren't into having a story in a 2D platformer, though, you can always select Classic Mode and just play through the levels with no dialogue. At its very heart, "Freedom Planet" it a wonderful salute to the years that began changing video games to what they are today. Sometimes campy, other times extremely serious, the characters range from charming to heroic to downright menacing. The level design and soundtrack is a joy to behold; one actually has to play the game in order to understand the full scope of how good it is. I very much recommend buying this game on Steam or the Wii U eShop. I am very excited to see where this series will be heading in the next several years. With the sequel coming out next year, we'll have another opportunity to see where Team Freedom and company's journeys will take them.