While the unique hooks make it a standout mobile game, what really appealed to me was the aesthetic. It’s such a simple concept, but it’s all packaged in such a way that I kept wanting to come back as I was driven to complete each challenge with the best possible results. Instead of jumping, you have to stomp Goomba on enemies and use environmental elements like gargoyles to make leaps or slow your fall.

This simple omission gives the mobile game its unique flavor. But there’s an added twist to this vertical platformer: you can’t jump. It’s a simple, intuitively driven experience that immediately hooked me as I tried to perfect my stage runs. In addition to completing levels normally, I tried to get a 100% completion rate on all levels.Īll of this adds up to create a platformer that feels like a cross between them Pac Man and Wario country. I was given the optional quests of collecting rocks that basically act as coins, finding secret tiles, and getting through the levels as fast as possible. During my cave adventure, I swipe left and right to move my character through a maze of platforms and mine shafts. Happy Luna has some side-scrolling platformer elements but is mostly built around vertical exploration. It’s a platformer that takes the genre’s usual gaming philosophy and turns it on its head with a gimmick that feels straight out of the DSi and WiiWare era. Then I saw Happy Luna during the Netflix game announcement block of GameSpot’s first annual Swipe Mobile Showcase. After not venturing out of my sphere for a while, I began to hunger for something new. I have a fairly fixed rotation of game genres that I enjoy: action games, JRPGs, and classic platformers. To my surprise, it brought me back to the days of some of the Nintendo DS’s most creative titles. It’s the newest game available through Netflix, and while I never thought I’d never touch the streaming service’s games, I’m glad I gave it a try. This happened to me when I tried Happy Luna, a new mobile game that pushed me out of my usual comfort zone. Happy Luna | Official game trailer | Netflix Have you ever played a new game that feels totally fresh while hitting a nostalgic nerve? A new game that has just been released but unleashes some memories of old titles that you haven’t played in years?

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