Fox N Forests

I don't think enough is said about how difficult it is to make a great mascot game. While Nintendo found success with Mario and Sega eventually stumbled on Sonic, the last thirty years are littered with also-ran attempts that you've either completely forgotten about or remember for all the wrong reasons. I think that's part of what makes the new game Fox N Forests so remarkable. This is a throwback platformer released by a first-time developer from Germany that somehow manages to make it look easy. Write this name down, Bonus Level Entertainment is a company worth paying attention to.

Let me introduce you to Rick the Fox, a versatile character with a powerful crossbow and a penchant for adventure. He has been caught up in a mission to fight his way through a series of seasonal stages in hopes of retrieving a bunch of missing bark pieces to prevent an evil force from creating a destructive fifth season. It's the kind of goofy setup that's straight out of the 16-bit platformers I grew up playing as a kid.

What sets Rick apart from Tails and Fox McCloud is that he's able to switch seasons at the snap of his furry little fingers. He's like a cross between Thanos and Storm, only far less destructive. The idea is that he'll switch seasons in order to affect the backgrounds. For example, you'll want to switch to winter in order to freeze the lakes or jump to autumn in order to ride the leaves falling from the trees. But changing the season is not indefinite, and you have to be mindful of how much you time you spend confusing the enemies with the time jumps.

On the official website, the developers mention being influenced by games like Castlevania, Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts, Wonder Boy, Zelda and even ActRaiser 2. I'm going to ignore my disbelief that anybody was actually inspired by ActRaiser 2 and say that I see a lot of those old games in Fox N Forests. Especially when it comes to the massive stages and the way the developer hopes you'll want to replay them over and over to collect all the goodies.

Actually, let me correct myself by saying that the developer doesn't hope you'll want to replay these stages, they force you to. This is one of those games that locks away a good chunk of the content until you collect a certain amount of hidden items. It doesn't matter if you've beaten the boss and collected the bark, you're not going to see the new worlds until you go back into the stages and locate a bunch of out-of-the-way seeds. I'm not a fan of this trend in throwback games, and it's especially obnoxious here.

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That said, I really enjoyed replaying these stages. Every time you beat a boss the game will give you a new weapon to use, which in turn can be used to open up new paths through the old levels. There are all sorts of things you'll find tucked away in this game, and much of it will be used to unlock new worlds and upgrade our hero. You'll get to the point where our little fox can pull off a bunch of melee moves, all of which are fun to try out in the earlier stages. I hate how restrictive it feels, but like how much you're able to unearth in each stage.

It helps that the different levels are constantly changing. We start out walking left to right like pretty much every 16-bit platformer, but we'll eventually get to a vertical stage where we're trying to avoid spikes. And don't forget about the 2D shoot 'em up stage that has us flying over a level that is either wet and stormy or literally on fire. There's just enough variety to keep things fresh and prevent the mandatory replays from becoming a slog.

Looking back on it now, there were certainly signs that this game was going to be purposely cruel. It's not just in collecting hidden items, but also in the way you have to pay for the checkpoints or extend seasonal energy when firing the special arrows. None of these things are anything close to a deal-breaker, but I also don't think they enhance the experience. It wouldn't surprise me if a huge chunk of the player base ends up quitting when forced to backtrack for hidden items, and it bums me out that those people will not see some of the best levels and boss fights.

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Visually, I have a hard time finding fault in Fox N Forests. This is a game that understands how important it is to not only nail the 16-bit look, while also maintaining the consistency across several varied worlds. This is a vibrant and often gorgeous throwback game that both looks and feels authentic, often improving on the games that inspired it. Retro or not, I wish all games had this much personality.

Fox N Forests is an old school platformer that plays as good as it looks. The levels are varied, the bosses are memorable and there's a staggering amount of secret goodies hidden away in each stage. I have a hunch the most controversial element will be the game's progression, which forces you to go back and replay past stages in order to find enough seeds to advance. Minor setbacks aside, Fox N Forests is a winning debut from Bonus Level Entertainment.