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Although I try to stay away from platformers for a while, I couldn't turn down the suggestion of a reader, so today we look at Island Escape, a Ludum Dare 17 entry that offers decent platforming action, but little innovation.

Full Review

Island Escape is developed by Nate Naterson of the Layabouts for the 17th Ludum Dare 48-hour game development competition that we've been covering here at IndieReview for the past week. Island Escape starts on a deserted island where you are shipwrecked and need to find materials to build yourself a vessel to ride off the island on. As such, the goal of all 5 levels in this game is to traverse treacherous gaps, spikes and colorful spikey balls to find raft-building materials such as ropes and wood.

While the game offers very challenging and fun platforming gameplay, expect little surprise when it comes to innovative mechanics. The game plays exactly the same as traditional platformers and add little or nothing new to the mix. That said, if you can't get enough of platformers, and are always looking for more, Island Escape offers a decent level pack to your existing platformer collection.

Graphically, the game didn't really impress. The sprites look like they have been quickly mouse-drawn in MS Paint and lacked the required amount of polish (or stylistic un-polish) to be aesthetically appealing. I do appreciate the simple opening cutscene where it shows the main character shipwrecked on the island - it sets the mood well and creates substantial motivation for the rest of the game.

The game is also very short at 5 levels, which is to be understood because of the time-limit imposed during the competition, therefore this is not considered a flaw of the game. However do note this if you are looking for a longer game, because the entire game should only take about 5-15 minutes to beat.

The game is a downloadable application for windows and can be obtained at this website.