Windswept review

Windswept’s influences become unmistakably evident before you’re even completed the game’s tutorial stage. Here, Perth-based developer WeatherFell blends the traversal challenges of Yoshi’s Island and Super Mario World with the dual-character camaraderie and ridables of Donkey Kong Country. Expectedly, you’ll even find some of those vexing mine cart stages, solidifying the homage to SNES-era efforts.

Yet for all its nods to platforming’s golden past, the game rarely feels like an imitation. Instead, Windswept fuses those inspirations into an experience that’s familiar, but also provides its own, occasionally tough-as-nails personality. If Celeste neglected to raise your blood pressure, Marbles the duck and Checkers the turtle just might.

Featherlight Difficulty Grows Hard as Shell 

Like the platformers of old, Windswept offers only a skeletal storyline, uniting the game’s swappable characters as hastily as one of Bowser’s royal abductions. Together, Marbles and Checkers challenge more than forty stages that extend across tropical reefs, icy cliffsides, and volcanic tunnels. Naturally, each are brimming with hazards that require a mastery of timing, reflexes, and character momentum.

The two protagonists can swap roles at any time, providing players with a larger moveset than most of the game’s inspirations. Marbles can glide gracefully through the air, or slide Checkers on his back to attack enemies. Meanwhile, Checkers has a powerful ground-pound as well as the ability to toss his pal skyward, allowing the duo to reach lofty ledges.

While switching isn’t always required at first, soon levels compel you to quickly read any imminent hazards before taking immediate action. That’s especially true if you hope to gather the four different kinds of collectables scattered around each stage.

Expect Some Fowl Language

Pleasingly, Windswept’s stages are meticulously designed. Worlds feel handcrafted, with obstacles arranged to punish recklessness but rewards peeking out often enough to encourage experimentation. Other collectibles are hidden in places that feel intuitive but are still satisfying to discover. Largely, it’s evident that WeatherFell is nudging players towards perfect runs.

But be aware that the difficulty spikes sharply at the game’s midway point. The once optional swaps become mandatory while Marbles and Checkers moveset needs to be committed to muscle memory across the latter half. Here, success isn’t just about platforming prowess but maintaining momentum as you string a succession of moves together. That said, Windswept rarely resorts to cheap tricks. Instead, failures feel like a lesson intended to teach a new rhythm or the mastery of a specific mechanic. Expectedly, all the drills will come into play as you make your way through the game’s tumultuous last hour.

No Quacking Under Pressure

Fortunately, Windswept offers several accessibility features that can tame the Duck and Turtle’s coarser side. Here, you’ll find gameplay assists such as invincibility, infinite jumps, additional checkpoints, and the ability to skip levels altogether. But your mighty moth friend doesn’t just make things easier. You can also use in-game currency to unlock mini-games, songs, and even action figures of the game’s cast.

Visually, Windswept’s charming sprite art and hand-painted backdrops are a delight. The game’s animation captures a lively energy, as Marbles flaps about with determination or Checker’s clings to his partner’s back. WeatherFell’s art direction pays tribute to a pixel-art past without being needlessly constrained by it. Occasionally, an enormous cyclone, the flicker of a fireplace, or a few extra layers to parallax give the game’s environments additional personality. Meanwhile, Patrick Crecelius and Zach Fendelman’s (aka Fat Bard) soundtrack, filled with woodwinds and punchy percussions, provides a taut tempo for the action with ratcheting up the stress level.

A Shell of a Good Time

Despite its 16-bit influences, Windswept provides modern pacing and polish. Features like instant respawns, optional assist toggles, and ghost run replays offer accessibility for both casual and veteran players. While its narrative might not linger long after the credits roll, the game’s joy of movement and finely tuned challenges almost certainly will. If you’re a fan of golden-age platformers, Windswept delivers a gust of nostalgic energy with a confident, refreshing spin.

Windswept was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.