The world of Pip is created with pixels. The ‘normal’ people have a few pixels to get around with, while the rich and powerful have most pixels. There’s a big difference between ‘high definition’ characters and standard pixelated characters. It’s an interesting setting that got even more interesting when a powerful witch stole all pixels. It’s up to Pip, a single pixel, to save his gorgeous world.
Time to meet Pip
Pip is the star of the game and the character you’ll control the entire game. That doesn’t mean he’s boring. Pip consists out of a single pixel, meaning you’ll control a colored square during your first minutes in the game. The brave little pixel decides to save the princess and stop the evil witch. On his quest, he soon runs into the ghost of a fallen knight. This faithful meeting resulted in Pip’s power to transform.
Pip can transform into an 8-bit version of himself and even a 32-bit version later on. Each transformation has its own benefits. As an 8-bit character, Pip gains a lot of speed and is able to jump from wall to wall easily. The 32-bit version on the other hand makes Pip a little slower but grants him a sword to take down enemies. The 32-bit version is also strong enough to move blocks and interact with the environment.
Beauty doesn’t count
Some might think that the more pixels one has, the better one becomes. But that’s not true. The developer made sure that all three versions of Pip have their use in the game. You’ll need to transform to 8-bit Pip to climb walls while you’ll need 32-bit Pip to take down enemies are move that crate. Even the one pixel Pip has its use since it’s the only version able to slide into small corners and discover every hidden spot in a level. Each version is fun to play with and there’s no version significantly better than the other one.
The game forces you to switch between the versions a lot and does this with an interesting mechanism. Scaling down Pip is easy. With a push of the ZL or A button, Pip will transform to a ‘lower’ version. If you want to transform back up however, you’ll need to take down a certain enemy that leaves behind a light. By touching this light, you’ll transform back into your ‘higher’ version. The game makes sure these enemies respawn on their spot so you’ll never get stuck on a specific point in the map. Besides this, the game offers a lot of checkpoints to make sure you never need to replay that much of the game.
A fun platform game
Besides the interesting puzzle mechanisms the game actually is a very enjoyable platform game as well. The developer really took his time to create a fun platform game filled with extras to discover. In every level you’ll be able to find hidden chests containing the currency needed to buy upgrades. These upgrades can give you more hearts or other fun. Besides the chests, every level also has three hidden villagers that need to be rescued. Rescuing them isn’t necessary but it’s fun to return to a village filled with characters you rescued. At first, finding every chest and each character sounds fun but it’s not something everybody will enjoy doing for that long. Every world features eight to nine levels so if you want to collect everything, you’ll need to spend a lot of your time. It’s great the developers added some extra challenges but not everybody will be able to enjoy them.
That being said, the game does nail the platform sections thanks to the great lay-out, the Pip transformations and the enemies you need to defeat. It’s not a Super Mario game but it’s a very enjoyable platform game a lot of gamers will enjoy without any doubt!
Great visuals
The last thing that’s worth mentioning is how the game looks. Thanks to the different pixel styles, the game combines classic 8-bit graphics with high definition cartoony graphics and it really works. It’s a very unique game to see and it’s fun to discover the different worlds to see what the game has to offer. Sure, there are a lot of platformer clichés but all in all, the developers were able to create a memorable world.
| The good: | The bad: |
| + Interesting pixel mechanism | – No big replay value |
| + Great setting | – Saving villagers doesn’t benefit the player |
| + Fun platformer |
Adventure of Pip is a great game thanks to the pixel-mechanism. It’s fun to experiment with the different pixel styles and the puzzles are challenging. The game really nails its setting and the platform sections are nicely done. The game can become rather repetitive so it’s best to play it from time to time. That being said, if you’re looking for a different platform experience, this is one you should definitely try.
4 out of 5:
