When playing a game, are you the type of person who finds satisfaction in dying over and over, because it makes the glory of finally succeeding that much sweeter? Or are you more likely to frisbee your Switch across the room in frustration after your 20th fail in a row? If you are the former, man, have I got a game for you! oOo: Ascension is punishingly difficult, but a certain type of gamer will get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Developer: Kenny Creanor

Publisher: EM Studios

3 Hours Played // Review Copy Provided // $9.99

oOo: Ascension is a precision-centric platformer, but with no jumping. You control a spaceship around different spherical levels. The goal is always the same: get to the finish unscathed. There are a variety of impediments to keep you from meeting that goal. Along with being able to fall off the course, there are also obstacles such as spinning blades and moving platforms to get in your way. One wrong move and you need to start all over.

This all reminds me a lot of Super Meat Boy, one of my all-time favorite games. Similarly, oOo: Ascension also has precise controls, short levels, and instant restarts for your many inevitable deaths. This last feature is a necessity for games like this. It makes dying part of the gameplay loop and learning curve; dying becomes a feature of the game and not just the result of failure.



Whoever designed these planets is a sadist!

Most of the time the difficulty, though steep, is fair. It was often my misjudgment of a corner or mistiming of a boost that caused my death. However, there are a few places where the deaths feel cheap. One example is a level that had a robot chasing me and a saw blade moving around the track. I had to precisely judge the gap in the saw blade, but I had no leniency to do so because of my pursuer. Frustratingly, this particular spot was deep within the level. So, I had to repeat 80% of the run to get to this one spot and hope the timing lined up. Many, many times it did not.

There are two tiers of win states in oOo: Ascension. The first is just being able to beat the level. The second is beating the level in under a certain amount of time (again, this is just like Super Meat Boy). So, if you really want a challenge, you can try for this second level of success. However, I don’t believe there is an in-game reason to do this; it would only be for personal satisfaction. Because beating a level causes the next one to unlock, beating the time on that level does nothing. I beat the times in all of the levels in the first world (read: easiest) and nothing happened. It would have been nice to receive even a small reward for the effort.

So close, yet so far.

The aesthetic of oOo: Ascension is minimal-futuristic. Everything looks sharp and clean with a neon glow. It reminds me a lot of Tron. The music is light techno, which pairs well with the visuals. Some of the songs can get repetitive, but for the most part, the music complements the playstyle. I often found myself in a groove or trance-like state dying over and over with the lightly thumping music in the background.

The minimal nature of the game also extends to the menus. You have the ability to choose single or multiplayer, and there is a level select. That’s it. There isn’t even an options menu. I like the idea of this; they really lean into this minimal aesthetic. However, it does leave me wanting something more. It feels odd to not even have the basic options such as adjusting music volume. To be fair, I finally did accidentally discover that some of the options are mapped to certain buttons. For example, hitting the L button toggles the ghost on or off. Since the ghost shows on the screen at the same time of your current run, it could be distracting, so this was a gamechanger for me. However, with no menu or tutorial or anything, I’m not sure how the developers expected players to know about this feature.

I do love the way this game looks.

With nine worlds, each having ten levels, there is a good amount of content in oOo: Ascension. And I’ll be honest, I am yet to finish the game. With how difficult it can be, it will take me a while to get through it all, especially when factoring in the time needed to walk away and regain my composure after my inevitable multiple deaths. That being said, I do plan on playing it all the way through. I like a lot about it and it is the perfect game to pick up for short sessions. I’m excited to get back to it, die 50 times in a row, walk away, come back, finally beat the level, and feel awesome.

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