Platypus Review

Platypus is a side-scrolling shooter that borrows elements from classic games. You take the role of piloting an advanced ship, destroying enemies with nondescript blasters. Upgrades can be obtained by defeating certain enemies, improving the strength, speed, and range of your weapons. At the end of some levels, bosses try and stop your progression.

Sound familiar? Well, it is. What sets Platypus apart from the scores of similar games is its entirely original graphics. The games visuals are created with clay, giving Platypus a unique look. Think Wallace and Gromit, but as a computer game. It’s obvious when playing that much time and hard work has gone into creating the colorful and vibrant world. The landscape changes drastically every few levels, with detailed locales including the country side, an advanced metropolis, and upper cloud layers. Minutiae other developers may ignore, such as attrition being visible as armored plating cumulatively falls from damaged ships and the subsequent tiny clay pilots that parachute from their exploding craft, aid Platypus in rising above mediocrity.

Also of note are the lively sound effects and music. The pulsing electronic beats are very effective at pumping up the gamer. As a supplement to the peculiar visuals, a fusion of eye and ear candy is created.