After I first heard they had been making a sport primarily based on the 2000 Tom Hanks film Forged Away, I assumed—why now, after greater than 20 years? Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. As an alternative, Castaway is an homage to The Legend of Zelda: Hyperlink’s Awakening. Maybe “homage” isn’t a robust sufficient phrase, as a result of this sport appears, feels, and (virtually) performs precisely like a 2D Zelda sport. That’s nice in a technique, extra Zelda is nice – but in addition there’s not loads of it.
Castaway is billed as a “concise” sport, and it actually lives as much as that description. Within the sport’s story mode, you play as Martin, who has crash-landed on an alien planet and had his canine taken by baddies. You progress via a sequence of dungeons, every that includes one in every of Martin’s lacking weapons and culminating in a boss battle—hidden behind a boss key. Sound acquainted?
It’s mainly Zelda-lite. The weapons are virtually the identical: a sword, a hookshot, and there’s pickaxe as effectively. All of which operate as they do in Zelda. You navigate screens very like you’d in a 2D Zelda sport. Whereas it’s not fully a Zelda rip-off, the enemies are closely impressed, and there’s a well being meter as you assault them. Martin’s Well being is restored by fruit hidden in vegetation and beneath rocks. Your complete sport takes beneath an hour to finish the story—bear in mind, they did say it was concise.
Story mode could be performed in normal Regular mode, in opposition to the clock in Speedrun, or within the extraordinarily difficult Unfair problem. There’s additionally a Pacifist mode and one the place you’re invincible. It’s a brief story, however at the very least there are a number of methods to play it.
After you beat the story, you unlock one other entire half of the sport: The Tower. This mode options 50 ranges of challenges to get via in a single run. You’ll encounter completely different power-ups and breaks each 10 ranges, however in any other case, you’re by yourself. Generally you’ll get helpful power-ups like an orb that flies round you taking out enemies, or a coin magnet that will help you gather cash and degree up quicker. It’s all of the luck of the draw, and whereas it begins out simple, the issue ramps up shortly.
The builders at Canari Video games have carried out a terrific job of recapturing the 2D Zelda graphics and refreshing them—although a few of the sprite work is terribly acquainted. The music additionally captures the identical vibe as Hyperlink’s Awakening—once more, awfully acquainted. The swordplay and different fight mechanics are comparable, however I really feel like a few of the timings are off, leaving you weak to wreck for too lengthy. Additionally, please let me remap the buttons—the B button not being the sword argh.
If you happen to’re craving extra 2D Zelda, Castaway will provide you with a small style of that. Whereas the story is cute, it’s admittedly very brief. The sport’s Tower Mode is an attention-grabbing tackle the 2D Zelda format, becoming it into a unique style. There’s not denying although simply how a lot has been impressed from Hyperlink’s Awakening and different 2D Zelda video games. A enjoyable, brief little romp, made virtually all by one individual – low-cost and cheerful.
Ranking: 4/5