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When WayForward first announced The Mummy Demastered, you'd be forgiven for initially looking over it.

As a movie tie-in based on a critical and commercial flop releasing several months after the film it's tied to, it's certainly a... strange move.

However, as a spooky-themed Metroidvania title by developers more than experienced in the genre, with great games like the Shantae series and the underrated Alien: Infestation under their belt, it's a game that deserves a second glance.

If you give it a chance, you'll come to find that it's a perfect Halloween treat.

After a disruption in a cavern in Iraq unleashes an ancient evil, it is up to you, a Prodigum agent, to contain the issue.

Your goal is to locate and subdue Princess Ahmanet at all costs, as well as securing as many ancient relics as possible and destroying any monsters you come across.

A fair warning here: there will be a lot of them, including but not limited to zombies, bats, rats, piranhas, crows, crickets, and yes, mummies. Oh, and there will of course be big bad bosses to deal with.

Story-wise, there's nothing that's going to turn heads, but they've done the most they could have with the source material and it's at no point boring or jarring.

It absolutely does the job and WayForward have made its application in a Metroidvania title feel seamless.

The Mummy Demastered could easily have been from the SNES era of genre classics such as Super Metroid, with its 16-bit pixel graphics and catchy soundtrack.

In fact, it's drastically comparable to the developer's previous Nintendo DS title, Alien: Infestation. Itself based on a movie franchise adapted into a Metroidvania, it's clear they drew from their previous game for inspiration.

Generally speaking, not much new is brought to the table here - but that's fine. If someone brings a fantastic Sunday roast dinner to the table, you don't complain, even if you've had it a hundred times before.

The standard genre controls apply; run, jump, crouch and roll, as well as firing up, left, right, and diagonally.

To begin with, you start off with just a submachine gun as your weapon, but you'll soon find other weapons such as flamethrowers and grenades.

There's a mini map in the corner of the screen to keep track of where you are, with certain important rooms - such as save rooms, because yes, you have to manually save - marked down.

You can access the full map in the pause menu, or in the case of the PlayStation 4 version, via the trackpad button.

Your mission waypoints will also be located on this larger map, but you'll also want to keep note of your surroundings to return to later on for secrets.

As with any entry in the genre, certain areas will be off limits to you until you find new upgrades and equipment.

In The Mummy Demastered, these items are called tech; for example, the first you'll find are grenades, which allow you to blow up certain obstacles blocking new pathways. As is the genre staple, expect to do a lot of backtracking.

Objects and enemies can be shot for health pick-ups and rushing through areas is usually punished with a quick death, so take your time and explore.

At no point did I feel like I was experiencing too much difficulty, but if you want to breeze through the game, you should expect to have prior experience with Metroidvanias. This acts well enough as a starting point if they are totally new to you though, so don't be disuaded.

Although I reviewed this for the PS4 and had a great time, I'm likely to double dip for the Nintendo Switch version. Metroidvania games are perfect for portable devices, and I find that's where pixel artwork shines brightest.

That's not to say it's a poorer experience on the PlayStation 4 - this is a legitimately enjoyable movie tie-in game that could so easily have been a cheap cash-in, even if it's not the longest game in the world.

In fact, even now I'm surprised by quite how good this game really is. I anticipated it'd be half-decent due to the developer's storied past, but this is an incredibly solid game that I unfortunately expect will be overlooked.

Not only is it a complete must-have for the Nintendo Switch, it's a game I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone even mildly interested in the genre - especially if you're after a Halloween-appropriate game.

Verdict

The Mummy Demastered is a genuine Metroidvania gem, living up to many of the other classics of the genre, despite not particularly providing anything new.

It looks, sounds and feels like it belongs on the SNES or Game Boy Advance, alongside other genre staples such as Castlevania and Metroid.

With gorgeously faithful 16-bit graphics and a catchy soundtrack to boot, it's a wonderful addition to one of my favourite genres.

Although it's available on other platforms too (including the PS4, which is where I reviewed it on) I can't help but feel it's best suited to the Nintendo Switch, thanks to its portability.

In any case, it truly is a wonderful year for video game releases.

The Mummy Demastered (releases October 24): PlayStation 4 | Xbox One | Nintendo Swith | PC

A PlayStation 4 copy of this game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes. You can find all our reviews on OpenCritic.