Philosopher George Santayana once wrote “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” The indie gaming scene proves, however, that those who remember history can repeat it most often and quite faithfully as well. Indie games in the past few years have grown at such a magnitude that the only way to accurately and fairly collect data on current trends is as such: a randomized 5×5 board, each with a common aspect of indie gaming.

While such a system has existed in the past, with many insights into the very cogs of that war machine we call indie gaming, I felt it would take a truly notable piece of software to awaken the bingo from its slumber. I didn’t have to wait long as Terry Cavanagh stepped up to the plate with the phonetically challenged VVVVVV. One look at it and you might get the impression that you’ve traveled back to the golden age of 1985, but VVVVVV quickly sets itself apart from games of yesteryear through its employment of chiptune music, constrained screen scrolling, brutal difficulty and a lack of any form of depth or ingenuity. VVVVVV is not so dissimilar to finding your old photo book, glancing through the pictures and reminiscing, then burying it for another 20 years. It’s a nostalgic experience, but sometimes you have to look at the same photo around 300 times before continuing to the next one, which has been flipped upside down and is rapidly changing colors. Then someone charges you fifteen dollars.

Overwrought metaphors aside, there’s almost something despicable about this game; the way it carefully emulates retro classics while inserting a gimmick presenting itself as new and innovative. The method in which it employs the most unnecessary and shallow “metroid-like” free-roaming environment in recent memory, seemingly just because it wasn’t indie enough already. Every screen, room title and spike pit reeks of indie, and yet at its heart it is merely a foul construct; an imitation. When historians look back to pinpoint the death of the independent spirit, coldly calculating machinations like VVVVVV will be the ones fingered.

But enough talk, let’s play Indie Gaming Bingo.

The Rundown:

Gimmick-Based: The mechanic of flipping gravity in a platformer is so common one might argue it’s not a gimmick at all and instead a viable control method along with jumping and waggling.

Silhouette/Monochrome: The most shocking twist in V-six’s narrative is at the very end splash-screen when you find out the main character being a deformed silhouette isn’t a technical restraint but his actual design.

Abstract Graphics: The background might as well be flat vectors, but enemies shapes like the world “LIE” shooting repeatedly out of a bullhorn show a true mastery of the art of metaphorical imagery.

Silly Title: A title so silly it cannot be uttered aloud without risk of sounding like a helicopter. I remember my days as a child when names were used to accurately describe their product, but thankfully we’re more enlightened now.

Artificial Difficulty: I think a valid question to ask Terry is whether or not this game was meant to delay players rather than challenge them. It can be beaten in under 2 hours, but will still manage to kill you an average of one thousand times. You won’t be frustrated, just… delayed.

“Metroidvania:” More accurate than Metroid, the game seems to transform into Knytt between missions, with many screens of vast emptiness to explore and stand around in.

“Lo-Fi:” The difference between lo-fi and neo-retro is a relatively fine distinction in the realm of trendy game classification. Neo-retro is a game with modern technology infused into retro aesthetics, like “Fathom” or “Braid.” Lo-fi, on the other hand is a low-quality sound recording.

Neon Vectors: In a field dominated by “Geometry Wars” clones, it’s nice to see some neon-vector innovation in the form of Jet Set Willy clones as well.

VVVVVV (direct link) by Terry Cavanagh

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 17th, 2010 at 7:53 pm and is filed under Indie Gaming Bingo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.