Slime-san

I don't think enough is made about how important world building is in video games. It's easy to go on about creating a living, breathing world when discussing something like Grand Theft Auto V or Crackdown 3, but even small 2D action games are improved when it feels like the characters and locations are more than just a means to an end. This type of world building is something Slime-san does incredibly well. In fact, it may just be the thing that turns this relatively straight-forward platformer into one of the year's most delightful games.

This is the story a good-natured slime who is out minding his own business, when all of a sudden, completely out of nowhere, along comes a giant worm and gobbles our hero up. It's now your job to slide, jump and slime your way through one-hundred challenging stages filled with all kinds of punishing old school obstacles. If you can stay alive and defeat a few bosses, our slime hero and his bird companion will avoid being digested and find a way to safety.

Slime-san seems to come from the Super Meat Boy school of platforming. Each stage is split into four bite-sized levels that can usually fit in a single 4 x 3 screen. The idea is to use your slime powers to make it all the way to the exit and move on to the next level. If you're daring, you can go for the out-of-the-way apple hidden in each level, but don't take too long, because you'll only have a few seconds before the stomach acid starts to flood the room and kills our hero.

For what it's worth, Slime-san does have a few tricks up his sleeve. His most impressive trick is the ability to turn invisible, which will not only slow down time, but also allow the slime to move through green walls and objects. He also has a helpful dash that can go in any direction, as well as the ability to climb up walls using his slimy coating.

Like all great platformers, Slime-san does an excellent job adding to the chaos from one stage to the next. Things start out simple enough, but it won't take long before you're swinging between vines, swimming through water, and even manipulating the level with your ability to slow down time. And you don't have to wait very long for the game to introduce new obstacles, because it's constantly throwing new ideas at you. Long-time fans of platform puzzles will no doubt recognize most (if not all) of what this game has to offer, but it's arranged in such a way where I doubt anybody will mind.

Part of the reason why it all comes together is because Slime-san does an incredible job of world building. This is one of those games that very easily could have gone the straight-forward route and gave us level after level of platforming puzzles. But developers Fabraz goes the extra step and gives us a world filled with interesting characters who are making the most out of a bad situation. We actually spend a lot of time visiting the cities that have been built up inside of this giant worm and getting to know the other inhabitants. Some of this is just to add flavor, but there's also some genuinely clever writing sprinkled throughout the adventure. The amount of personality in this game really took me by surprise.

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I also love how much there is to buy and collect in Slime-san. Every apple you grab can be used to buy new characters, customize the backgrounds, add personality and more. And then there are the hidden coins that can be used to buy mini-game arcade cabinets, which include everything from a Pong rip-off to a silly overhead shoot-em-up. There's an almost overwhelming amount of stuff to buy in the shop, which is one of the reasons why I was so dedicated to going back and getting every apple.

Slime-san makes a lot of sense on the Nintendo Switch, especially if you're like me and tend to use it as more of a handheld than traditional console. Between the bite-sized levels and the staggering amount of content, I found myself constantly picking it up and playing for a few minutes at a time. My one big complaint is that the standard Switch controller doesn't have a D-pad. Sure, the analog stick gets the job done for the most part, but it's never as precise as a traditional D-pad.

While it borrows ideas from a lot of other games, Slime-san still manages to feel fresh and exciting thanks to great gameplay and a lot of world building. Best of all, it has incredible level designs and a great sense of humor. And with hundreds of levels and all kinds of things to buy in the shop, Slime-san will take well over a dozen hours to complete. Unless you're the kind of person who hates fun platformers that are bursting with personality, I just can't imagine anybody being letdown by Slime-san.