Gravonaut review (iPod/iPhone)

♫ “Eighties, I’ve got the best, I’ll take all I can get”

10 word description: Gravity-flipping side-scrolling 8 bit runner/adventure 15 levels, bosses.

The initial loading screens are great!

10 word review: Stunningly hard; ultimately the perfect Zen game for angry loners.

Cool, I've unlocked the snazzy red VR character!

You will like this if you enjoy: Gravity Guy, IWTBTG, VVVVVV, Gravity Runner, 8 bit retro, Air Supply, dying 1000 times very quickly.

The good news: Never once does Gravonaut deviate from its sole purpose in life – to rip your puny gaming ability into shreds again and again and again.  

25 deaths ..... hey, not bad!

 
The bad news: Your ego might not survive a kicking like this.

Arcadelife verdict: Initially, I thought I’d have to quit after a couple of levels because it’s almost insanely difficult right from the start. Then, of course, I got into it. Some levels took longer than others… there’s no real difficulty curve, just a succession of vertical, spiky metal walls that you have to repeatedly smack your face into in order to progress. Around level 7, I started to believe that this was some kind of gaming perfection; it didn’t matter that I was dying 20 or 30 times each level because the one perfect run (and each one pretty much needs to be perfect) was about as satisfying as any videogame accomplishment I’ve known.

The new icon is a million times better than the original.

Breaking it down – Graphically, it’s hard to fault: 8 bit taken as far as it will go, with jaw-droppingly 80s cut-scenes before each of the boss levels. Gameplay, well, it isn’t an easy game but it also is an easy game. It may take you 50 attempts to beat a level but, eventually, you’re going to do it and that final attempt, when you get everything right, feels like the most natural sequence of button presses in your entire life.

Intro to the last boss - will YOU ever get that far? Nah, I doubt it.

At the time of writing, I’m on level 14 out of the 15 main levels. I’ve unlocked the red VR character and I have honestly thoroughly enjoyed playing this game. It’s very well designed and utterly relentless – recommended if you think you can handle it.

The fantastic Gravonaut ad on YouTube:

The version of Gravonaut that Arcadelife reviewed is 1.2.1 

Gravonaut website

Arcadelife played and reviewed this game on:
4th gen iPod Touch (OS 4.3)