Almost There: The Platformer is the latest contribution to the same sub-genre of platformers as N+, The Impossible Game, and Super Meat Boy. If you enjoyed getting splattered over and over in those games, then Almost There may well be worth your attention.

Focused Design

Within moments of starting, the goals of Almost There‘s designer, Bony Yousuf, quickly become apparent. He wasted no time on a plot. ‘Get to the end of the level’ is all we’re given. He wasted no time on character design. A cube with a bandanna is more than enough protagonist for our needs. He wasted no time on intricate backdrops for you to platform against. A simple colour palette will do just nicely.

What the development time has been used for in this game is designing levels: 155 devilishly designed platforming levels to be exact. Almost There takes the standard inventory of platforming obstacles (instant kill spikes, platforms that drop away when touched, buzzsaws on spinning sticks, gun turrets with laser sights, etc.) and creates some exquisitely frustrating levels with them.

The levels are put together well if a little familiar to fans of the genre.

Hurt Me Plenty

Almost There belongs to a sub-genre of platformers that targets players who like to grind their teeth whilst trying to stick the landing. The level design demands tight, expert control at all times and punishes minor mistakes with instant death. That said, the levels are short enough and re-spawning is quick enough that death is never aggravating to the point of detracting from the fun. Games like Almost There (and its inspirations N+ and The Impossible Game) don’t appeal to everyone, but nor do they try to.

Almost There is all about skill and platforming finesse pushed to its limits. It’s the sort of game that makes you want to show off your score once you’ve beaten a level with a particularly satisfying time. It’s a game where you feel the impulse to take a screenshot of your course time and send it to your friends, challenging them to do better. With that in mind, I was surprised to see that there was no leaderboard of any kind. This is a real missed opportunity for a game about showing off your platforming skills.

Learn by Doing

The first few levels of Almost There attempt to give a tutorial through context rather than have a screen explaining what the controls do. The first level simply plonks the player on a platform with the goal on the right and lets you figure out for yourself how to move. The next level is similar but with a gap in the floor. The game leaves you to work out on your own that ‘A’ is jump, although you’ll probably also discover here that B and X reset the level.

This is all very well and good, and many great games teach their mechanics this way. However, in Almost There, the execution is (you know exactly where this is going) only almost there. A few levels later and the mechanics have already lost me. I’ve found that I can double jump when coming off a wall jump, but that’s the only time I can do so. The logic behind this restriction is unclear and now I as a player am confused. What is my character actually capable of that I’ve missed? What restrictions have I overlooked? Cue a lot of tedious trial and error to figure out what my characters abilities are, and now the gameplay experience has been dragged down.

Controls are tight and demand expert skill meaning a good time feels like a genuine achievement

Sticking the landing

Nevertheless, once I’ve played around with the controls a bit more and I better understand how they work, I press on and the level design keeps impressing me the further I get. So many of the levels feel impossible or unfair at first glance, but once you’ve attacked them a few times you quickly understand what it is you’re supposed to be doing.

The best platformers are always ones where your objective is clear, but executing it is difficult. Almost There is a textbook example of this, thanks to the minimalist design which makes the whole experience all about the platforming challenge.

As I keep going through the levels, the game finds just the right point to add more complex obstacles. By the third world, the opposition you face is highly dynamic and incredibly stimulating. The developer clearly has a strong understanding of what makes a platformer challenging and satisfying. Unfortunately, however, there seems to be very little innovation of their own with the obstacles on display. It’s hard for me to get away from the fact that I recognise almost all of the individual elements of Almost There from playing N+, even though the designer of Almost There has found engaging new implementations of those elements, it’s a shame not to see more original ideas here.

Endless Bass

As fun as Almost There manages to make its platforming, there are some minor points for improvement. For one thing, the font used on the results screen is way too small for handheld mode.

Font size is an issue for handheld mode

For another, there appear to only be three tracks to the soundtrack: one for each world. While each is great, there comes a point where you need some variation. I found myself switching between worlds in order to add variety to what I was hearing. Eventually, I turned the music off altogether.

I also noted that some of the target times that separated getting two stars and getting three were so tight that I’d be more impressed with someone getting exactly the time needed for a two-star score.

Conclusions

At the end of the day, I enjoyed Almost There. If you enjoy difficult platformers that reward skill but are very punishing towards failure then I think you will too. The challenge the game presents through its 155 levels makes it a worthy addition to your library. Nevertheless, the lack of innovation in its obstacles will stop it from being remembered as one of the greats.

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