Commander Pixman review (iPod/iPhone)

♫ “Nothing could prepare me for what I went through
I died a hundred deaths just because of you”

10 word description: Retro action-platformer. Fast-paced. 80 levels. Monsters. Missions. Traps.

10 word review: Punishing difficulty tests perseverance and skills more than most games.

Hazards and general features are very much a checklist of platform game standards

You will like this if you enjoy: League of Evil, Mos Speedrun, 1-bit Ninja. Gravonaut. Fast-paced platform games with very short, very tough levels.

Crushers in a narrow tunnel, leading to a gun that starts shooting horizontally when you are level with it

The good news: Extreme retro graphics. Responsive controls. Unashamedly vicious level design. Instant restart on death. Multiple level completion goals.

An instantly recognisable enemy from the dawn of videogame history - fits right in with the pixel / retro style

The bad news: Timer starts immediately. I’d prefer if it waited for a player action, the same as in Mos Speedrun. 3-star times are very difficult to achieve – definitely not for the casual gamer! Movement, particularly jumping, feels slightly less precise than I’d like it to be with this kind of speed-based gameplay.

Mines have a short delay, meaning you need to move away quickly when you land on one

Arcadelife verdict: This is the latest welcome addition to the iOS platformer sub-genre of speed-run games with short, hard levels. There’s plenty of content, for those with the tenacity and ability to make it beyond the undeniable challenge of the first few levels.

Now it's starting to get difficult...

While not quite as inventive or graphically polished as 1-bit Ninja, lacking the precise feel of League of Evil, and with multiple ghosts ‘borrowed’ from Mos Speedrun, Commander Pixman has enough brutal gameplay and hectic insta-death action to easily appeal to fans of those games.

Upon completing a level, ghosts of your many attempts appear simultaneously in some kind of hyperactive parade of failure

Arcadelife rating: 79/100

Version reviewed by Arcadelife is 1.0.0

One Minute Games website link

Arcadelife played and reviewed this game on:
4th gen iPod Touch (OS 4.3.5)