"But this game looks like a Sonic ripo... " <FALCON PUNCH>

YOU KNOW NOTHING! Play the demo, check the gameplay, read the reviews! This game is a Saturn-era platformer that NAILED IT. We are talking here about Shovel Knight levels of quality, Megaman X4 levels of quality, Sonic 3 & Knuckles levels of quality. This is full-on nostalgia trip of concepts you love, from games you remember. The whole experience is delivered in the new awesome package with suprisingly varied gameplay mechanics, great level design, smooth controls and top-level boss encounters (better quality than all Sonic's games bosses and on the level of the best from Megaman). On top of that, three distinctive characters to play means high replayability that justifies the initial price tag. This game may look like Sonic initially but in reality it plays like a improvement and modernization of Blue Blur's formula with many influences from other awesome platforming classics. It evolved from this ground-up and at the end Freedom Planet does it's own thing.

It looks well, sounds well (amazing soundtrack) and even the voice-acting that is clearly more of indies level of quality is most times solid. Storyline is nothing super special, but it's cool for one thing - it pulls out a Cave Story - in the FIRST cutscene. Stuff gets real, fast. Cutscenes can be really lenghty sometimes. I liked them, but those who highly prefer gameplay over story can disable them by choosing Classic Mode.

There are some small glitches (they will propably be patched out in near future), some plotholes and inconsistences in the story and minor places where voice-acting isn't that good. Some people also complained about difficulty curve. Bosses are in fact a bit challenging on Normal difficulty, but for me, fair checkpoint system and painless continues are more than enough to balance this out. If you are not reckless and do recognize some boss patterns, you should be fine. There are also plenty difficulty settings to choose from - you can pick Easy or Casual, if you want a sweat-less experiece.

This isn't a flawleess ride, but the overall quality of the game is unbelievably high for the first major project from this developer and only $25,000 gained from kickstarter. Again, check the demo. It gives a correct glimpse how the game really looks like and it should definietly tell you if you will enjoy the game. All in all, I highly recommend this game! It is much more than it looks at first glance!

You know whats unfortunate? Most people will get the wrong idea and will knock this game down. There's gonna be a ton of people who will just glance at this and will simply presume the game is a sonic knockoff.

Like with the recent indie game Shovel Knight, it takes elements from various classic games and makes it all its own identity. So does Freedom Planet with its different game play styles. You have characters that of course are fast like sonic, some fight like Zero from the Mega man games, and another who can bring up blocks via magic and throw them via Mario 2 style.

The gameplay yes, level designs take inspiration from sonic titles, along with bosses from games such as Gunstar Heroes, a bit of Ristar, and just this massive blend of genesis/super nintendo games all into one...yes it blends, do breathe this.

Story wise (no worries about spoilers) feels like a good old Saturday morning cartoon show with funny humor, fun characters, and can still be dark in some areas. Themes ranging from friendships, growing stronger, revenge that shift from various character viewpoints when playing the other characters.

There's a lot going on here, its worth the 15$ definitly with its content, and along with more coming along the way with an expansion which will add an adventure mode for Milla since she's only in classic at the moment, along with characters such as Spade and Torque somewhere down the line.

This game though does get hard at the very last few stages, NES hard but checkpoints are plenty and unlimited continues are in this so its not too bad. Just expect a challenge at the later half of the game.

Hopefully this game does become more popular with people on youtube giving this game more attention such as YOGSCAST and reviewers such as Somecallmejohnny and more, just to name a few. Spread the word, tell people about it, and treat it like the kind of game you'd keep in your retro game collection. No scratch that, treat it like the kind of game that stays fresh and fun for years to come, even after the millionith playthrough. Worth the cash, no doubt about it

I cannot spoil anything for all of you who don't have this game yet. But this game will be worth EVERY PENNY you spend on it!

-Stages designed uniquely with various gimmicks that don't get old as well as some neat attention to detail in certain levels.

-A very charming and sometimes intimidating cast of characters.

-Top-knotch voice acting.

-Gameplay that has evolved VERY much from when it was still only a sonic fangame now making the only similarities the ability to go fast, some loop-de-loops, anthropomorphic characters and launchers/springs.

-An utterly eargasm-inducing soundtrack.

-A very interesting and captivating story that's very prevelant for a platformer.

-Bosses that can REALLY get your blood pumping and provide a very great challenge.

-The playable characters are all fun to play as(especially a certain 3rd one.) with their own pros and cons that keep them balanced.

Overall... Even as a beta tester I can't say anymore about this game without spoiling it. Atleast not now. You will have to play this game yourself once it comes out to fully understand how great it is. Please play it as soon as you can... For the puppies!

If this game came out back in the Sega era we wouldnt be talking about Sonic and Tails we be talking about Lilac and Carol.

Before I review Freedom Planet, a disclaimer I feel important to mention: I have been an alpha tester for the game since April 2013, and am also a moderator of the game's forums/makeshift bug tracker. My opinions are based off not only the final product, but several unfinished builds of the game. I am probably not going to provide the least-biased, most-impartial opinion out there, although I will try; take this fact as you see fit.

Freedom Planet is a 2D side-scrolling platformer, with a heavy emphasis on momentum-based physics and melee combat. Although its inspiration by Sega's seminal Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is self-evident, make no mistake; this game plays significantly differently, and hardly in a bad sense.

The plot centers around water-dragon Sash Lilac, a thief who lives a relatively solitary life in a treehouse, and her wildcat companion/roommate Carol Tea, an impulsive character with an amazing physics-defying motorcycle. The two girls rescue an unusual duck-billed turtle named Torque from his pursuers after he crash-lands in the jungle, but in doing so, are thrust into his attempt to thwart the impending theft of an artifact precious to their world of Avalice - the Kingdom Stone, the object that gives Avalice's people the ability to power their various devices and as such live their daily lives. Along the way, they ally with the hound dog Milla Basset, a shy, naive homeless orphan living on her own in the wild (and who is decidedly not a rabbit, despite her long ears), and discover the involvement of military leader Lord Brevon, who wants the Kingdom Stone for his own nefarious purposes, but whose origin is apparently not of their world.

The gameplay is pretty simple in execution. You control either Lilac, Carol or Milla (although you have to unlock that last one; she becomes available just for playing two stages of the other two girls' campaigns, but can only access Classic Mode as of writing), and get them from point A to point B, where a Treasure-esque multi-part boss of some fashion awaits, with the intent of slaughtering you. Each of these stages have their own unique hazards and mechanics to come to terms with: whether that's dodging oversized mining equipment, fending off three themed enemy airships, riding the back of a submarine as it bobs up and down in the water or dealing with ninjas on motorcycles, there's always something new being thrown at you, but very rarely is it so abrupt as to be unfair. The usual assortment of power-ups help you on your quest: crystals for extra lives (naturally, although the magic number is 200 instead of the usual 100), health petals to patch up wounds (or to double as crystals when you're full-health), little heads in cages as quick extra lives, and various large crystals that, when shattered, provide you with a shield (themed after Wu Xing, each offering at least two additional hits separate from your health bar, protection from attacks of their element, and some subtle bonuses besides).

The three characters go through the stages with significantly different playstyles:

* Lilac can zoom around like Sparkster with her Dragon Boost, can perform a low-gravity double-jump with her Dragon Cyclone, and generally has the widest variety in her basic attacks. She's also easily the fastest on-foot of all the characters, making her a good all-rounder.
* Carol can wall-climb, spin like a certain hedgehog, leap around from jump pad to jump pad or zoom around on a bike that can implausibly drive up walls and ladders. On the flipside, she generally has weaker attacks than Lilac (although they whip out faster) and is slower on-foot.
* Milla can fly to a limited extent, can throw objects for ranged attacks (like item boxes or a self-generated block), can deflect some enemy attacks with a shield (itself an attack, as its dissipation shoots outwards; its power increases when combined with a generated block) and can dig things out of patches of dirt; all the typical things dogs do. However, she is slower than Carol and has less health than her companions.

Each character also sees some things the others don't, whether that's an extended version of a cutscene, a different boss or an entire stage solely exclusive to them, further incentivizing playing as all three.

Those familiar with deviantART (for better or worse) might recognize the three heroines. That's no accident; the characters were licensed from Chinese artist Ziyo-Ling, who used the trio many years ago on her dA page (although Lilac's species was changed from a hedgehog to a dragon, to make the inspirations a little less blatant). I'm not going to lie, when I first heard of the game many years ago, I thought it sounded like the dumbest idea imaginable to take those three fan characters and slap them into their own game. However, a demo of the game in 2012 quickly changed my mind, with surprisingly strong gameplay mechanics, fluid animations, and catchy music - such that, when the game went up on Kickstarter, I didn't think twice about pledging $30 for beta access (only to bump it up another $20 for alpha access instead).

Fortunately, those qualities have carried through the rest of development. As part of the Kickstarter's stretch goals, the graphics were given a once-over, adding shading to the previously flat-shaded sprites and even touching up the level art. More stages kept coming in, and alongside them several new enemies, difficult bosses and kickass music tracks. I might have had some misgivings with some changes here and there, but by-and-large, this game was pretty much what I imagined when I pledged. I suspect the art style will remain a turn off for some, but for them to skip it completely because of that would be doing themselves a disservice.

I won't say everything's perfect. The plot is pretty good, but doesn't explain some plot events or the general backstory of Avalice well enough, leaving some plot holes that would need to be touched up in future patches (it's tougher for me to gauge as I've been following the game's development closely to catch little factoids in forum discussions here and there, but I expect a newcomer to be left having some questions). Adventure Mode was slated to have various hubs you could visit to access the game's stages and heal up between them, but these had to be cut in the final product, rendering Adventure Mode little more than "cutscenes, please" as opposed to Classic Mode's "next stage, please". The game is pretty easy once you get the hang of how it works, although the final stages and bosses are challenging enough to offset that (plus, it'll still be difficult to do a no-miss clear). The colored spheres you collect from enemies and treasure chests scattered about the levels do nothing more than act as currency for a gambling bonus stage at this immediate moment (a new character planned for a free future update is supposed to make better use of them, but that obviously won't apply to the initial launch). Some of the music fades out and restarts, instead of looping seamlessly (this one never bothered me, but it annoys other people).

That said, do any of those flaws irreparably mar the experience? To be blunt: no. The core gameplay is so much fun that it trumps any of the things working against it. It might be inspired heavily by other franchises, but I think the resulting mixture is something more than a cynical rip-off; it's a spirited little adventure that evokes the best of '90s gaming. Frankly, that's a game worth a look.

At the very least, try the demo linked to from the store page. It'll only take about half an hour of your time, letting you try both Lilac and Carol through the first one-and-a-half stages (Milla being exclusive to the paid product). Who knows; if you're skeptical, maybe playing it and seeing how well it comes together will change your mind.

Freedom Planet is a 2D action-platformer that borrows a lot from 16-bit SEGA, Treasure, and Capcom games, but manages to feel fresh and unique through clever design, a folded-in story experience, and obviously a lot of thought put into the game's excellent design.

Freedom Planet tells the story of a group of previously rogue animals, Sash Lilac and Carol Tea, who find themselves involved as one of the few with the knowledge that their home planet's being invaded by an alien overlord, Arktivus Brevon, and his army, who are after a stone of great power that rests on their planet, the Kingdom Stone. Getting involved with two other animals, Milla Basset and Torque, the four of them team-up to try and save the world.

The voice acting of the game takes a bit to get used to at first, but in the end the actors did good on delivering on their roles, and what I pretty much expected to be a pretty lackluster tale tacked onto the game actually provided characters I did end up caring about, developed through the course of the game, and even got pretty emotionally touching, dark, but with the right amount of humor thrown in to keep it entertaining. However, if you don't care at all about the story, when starting a game you can choose to play 'Classic Mode', which lets you play through all the stages with no story whatsoever.

Freedom Planet features three playable characters, Lilac, Carol, and Milla, all of who control and play completely differently. Lilac is the most straight-forward character, with a focus on speed and acrobatic ability. She can dash madly through stages and will be a favorite of those who have an inner speed demon. She does a variety of beat-em up style combos with slices and kicks for enemies, and uses a charge meter for a variety of her swirl and dash attacks. Carol is slower than Lilac by default, but when she collects gas from stages, she gets the ability to ride a motorbike, which she can use to do a number of spin attacks, wheelies, drive up walls, and a lot more. However, even when off her bike, she can be tactful, with a dagger with longer reach and damage than Lilac's attacks, a jump dash, wall jump, and can use certain devices in stages Lilac can't. Milla is the slowest of the crew, and needs to be played the most tactfully. She can't attack enemies directly easily, but is very good on the defense. She can fly using her ears, summon a green cube at any time which she can throw, use to collect and pick-up nearby objects like bombs, or generate a barrier shield with she can use to defend from attacks. And when she breaks her shield, it forms a laser that delivers high damage to enemies.

All three characters go through mostly the same stages, but there are a few stages that are exclusive to each character and some stages that two characters may visit while the other will go to their own unique stage. It's very interesting to see how all three tackle the same stages very differently, however.

Most may expect the game on first glance to be a Sonic-clone, the game started development as a Sonic the Hedgehog fan game and has been in development for about three years. However, while playing what I was most reminded of was games by Treasure, such as Gunstar Heroes. The Sonic influence is definitely there, but this game forms itself as a beast all its own through its own unique level design, bigger focus on combat and stage gimmicks, and constantly escalating gameplay.

The level design is absolutely ace and really impressed me. The stages are unique, fun, and challenging, while both building up difficulty slowly but surely while also introducing a number of new situations and mechanics. Most stages feature completely different enemies and stage gimmicks, but manage to really use them in ways you get familiar with them quickly and then go all-out, which feels natural and progressive despite each stage having a high number of unique gimmicks. You'll do everything from climbing from spike traps, riding disco-ball Ferris Wheels, avoiding drills and kicking them into walls to bypass them, jumping between missiles to get from airship to airship, swimming alongside and avoiding missiles from a submerged submarine, and a lot, lot more. Stages are usually actually fairly meaty, being of pretty decent length and with many multiple paths to take through almost all of them.

Several times through most stages you'll fight a number of bosses, usually 2-5 before the stage is up. And they deserve particular mention, as the boss fights are challenging, fun, creative, and feature both strategic yet satisfying encounters that come in a large variety. In a single early stage, you'll fight a golem made of blocks you've been pushing around, a skeletal chicken, a vehicle with a devastating iron claw, and a giant pray mantis with a T-Rex roar, and that again is only in a single level.

And this all goes to an extremely awesome and rocking soundtrack that delivers something like a mixture of a Treasure and SEGA soundtrack from the 90s. Each stage has two different songs for the two different halves, and there are a number of boss and cinematic songs through the course of it as well.

Honestly speaking, this is a very solid platformer. It has a good amount of optional content, from a training dojo stage in time attack to collectible trading cards you can find in stages and a variety of challenging achievements, to replayability with the three very different characters with unique stages to each of them. It is a lot of fun to play from start to finish, and backs itself with some great style, design, and a pretty good story. The end of the game is actually pretty challenging, even on normal difficulty, and this game may feature in my opinion some of the best bosses to ever grace a platformer.

If you like platformers, and can get over the fact the game features anthropomorphic animals, this game is excellent in its own right. Its not merely a clone of anything, it's a solid indie release and maybe one of the best indie platformers to come out in some time. If you liked SEGA's and Treasures platforming games of the 90s, you need to try this game out.

Platforming? YES
Retro-Like? YES
Speedrunable? YES
Story? YES
Voice Acting? YES
Fun? YES
Difficult Bosses? YES
Difficulty Selection? YES
Addicting? YES
Decent Soundtrack? YES
Replayability? YES
Plays like the Sonic games? YES
Worth the full price? YES
Buy this game? YES!

great game
great soundtrack
great gameplay
bosses
not a sonic clone like i thought it would be
much better than i expected

TL;DR - Freedom Planet is easily my indie GOTY, and among my favorite games of all time. Now, on to a full review:

I'd had my eye on this game since its early Greenlight campaign and sadly missed its Kickstarter. Fast forward many months of watching the game evolve, and Freedom Planet's on Steam. After everything I'd seen, I set fairly unrealistic expectations for this game... and was shocked when I found they'd not only been met, but exceeded.

In short, Freedom Planet is everything you could ask for out of a fast-paced 2D platformer. It hits all the right notes with a mix of speed and platforming, coming together in excellent level design, very much akin to Genesis era Sonic titles. However, it isn't a Sonic clone; it clearly draws a great deal of inspiration, but also has enough differences to feel fresh and unique.

Freedom Planet undoubtedly has a love of speed, similar to Sonic, and features great level design, with branching paths and multiple ways to tackle areas due to characters' different abilities (more on that later), but the levels can be fairly lengthy and aren't afraid to slow you down for some more intricate platforming or a bit of combat. Neither of those points are negatives; the levels never seem to drag, continuing to add in new hazards to overcome and sights to see, and being unable to simply blow through a level without prior practice makes the platforming feel that much more satisfying. Combat is also quite fun, as it maintains the game's fast pace and mixes in a good amount of variety in both attacks and enemies. Boss battles are also unique and challenging, each requiring different approaches to beat them, and ultimately being very entertaining in their design.

Graphically, this game is beautiful and features very detailed sprite work. Characters are drawn down to minute details, and backgrounds and level pieces are equally detailed and varied. Each area is distinctly different from the last and very lovingly drawn. Not only does the level as a whole paint a lovely image, but the artists even took care to include small details that can truly breathe life into a game. This attention to detail carries over to the characters, with entire animations dedicated to a single usage in-game. For instance, in one level there are disco balls, which cause the characters to dance if they're stopped near enough by.

The soundtrack is also varied and fun, keeping pace with the game. Voice-overs are also surprisingly good, especially considering how games can suffer greatly from poor voice acting (to the point it would have been preferable for them to be silent). Freedom Planet's voices in no way detract from its characters, and in fact, can be rather fun and fitting, particularly in its many lighthearted moments.

Story-wise, it's on par with retro-inspired action games. You're out to save the world, you'll meet some fun characters, and you'll find little plot surprises here and there. Gameplay far outshines story here, but it's a good romp regardless, and if story isn't your thing, there's the option to skip it completely and get right to the meat of the game.

Replayability is another one of Freedom Planet's strong suits. As of writing this, there are three playable characters, each with distinct abilities. Two of the three even have their own story, and I've heard plans to not only increase the character count, but also to give characters unique stories and levels. Characters aren't just simple sprite swaps either; each character has an entirely different set of moves and abilities, as well as levels unique to them. Even when passing through the same levels, it feels like a fresh experience. The characters vary enough to warrant entirely different play styles and ways of going about overcoming the same areas. This is particularly prevalent for boss fights, which adds an extra layer of excitement replaying them.

There are other little extras, such as a set of 'hit the targets' levels, which are much smaller, but focus on avoiding obstacles and making your way to all the corners of the level. These are rather fun, although you'll be done with them very quickly. Keep playing, and you'll even unlock a mahjong mini-game to relax with between more intense gameplay.

All said, Freedom Planet can offer dozens of hours of entertainment for a very reasonable price. Between the levels' length and depth, each character offering a brand new perspective on the game, and simply being fun enough to drag you back for one more try at a faster run, Freedom Planet is a great value and a shining example of the incredible things indie gaming is capable of.

By far one of the best (if not THE best) indie games released via Greenlight ever. A well functioning mix of Sonic, Ristar, and other great platformers during the Genesis and Super Nintendo era. Graphics and gameplay are buttery smooth and the music is extremely catchy. 10/10!

Kickstarter-backer/Beta-tester here; 18 months ago Freedom Planet looked like a amatuer attempt to recapture the glore days of Sonic and other 16-bit console platformers. The demo offered during the kickstarter campaign had solid controls and gameplay, but everything else felt a touch rough.

Now, the finished game has launched and it's extremely polished for an Indie game. The controls and and gameplay are tighter than most AAA platformers I've played; new or old. The story and voice acting may be a little cheesy in today's standards, but face it; back in the early/mid 90s platformers always had cheezy stories and if they had voice acting it was awful!

So what does Freedom Planet have to offer the saturated 2D Platformer genre aside from good controls and gameplay? Well, the retro visuals are very well done with excellent choice in colour. The music style not only suits the visual style and gameplay, but is also quite pleasent to listen to on it's own. The levels often have several different paths can be crisscrossed at whim in most cause with each level having atleast 2 bosses(there are 10 levels in total). The difficulty curve is very nice; The game starts off fairly easy and steadily becomes quite challenging, even for the most experienced crowd.

Most odd of all for a 2D platformer is that there are multiple characters with vastly different playstyles. Lilac is your standard high-powered lead character replicating Sonic the hedgehog mixed with kung-fu. Carole is slower and weaker but has a megaman-like walljump. She can also pickup gas cans to gain a motorcycle powerup which allows her to move even faster than Lilac and perform different moves. These two characters have many overlapping stages.

Milla is the 3rd character currently and does not have an "adventure"(read: story) mode yet. Milla plays much slower than Carole or Lilac but has completely different abilities and much less health. Her gameplay is often more technical and she has some different levels from Carole and Lilalc.

All-in-all Freedom Planet feels like a 16-bit platformer than we were promised in the 1990s but denied thanks to 3D graphics becoming a must for all games. If you enjoyed and still enjoy the platformers from the Sega-Genesis/Saturn, SNES, and Neo-Geo era then this game is for you. If you like 2D platformers as a whole you will atleast want to check out the free demo on the developer's website.

I actually kind of wanted to hate this game. I don't like furries, and while I've been a Sonic fan since the Genesis (slightly contradictory to furry hating, I realize), I've also loathed other Sonic fans; you know the ones who make ♥♥♥♥ty rip-off art of their "original characters".

One thing I give myself credit for, however, is even when I go into an experience with a presupposition, I can usually still critique something fairly objectively and admit when I was wrong. Freedom Planet is quite an excellent game.

The attention to detail in these sprites is incredible. Each character is very well animated, including appropriately cartoony facial expressions. The game is fully voiced, and the acting is surprisingly decent. Granted, some of it feels over the top ("I'M YELLING ALL THE TIME BECAUSE YELLING CONVEYS EMOTION!!!!"), and I find most of the female main characters insufferable (they pretty much all do the ~kawaii~, or sassy-cute voices I can't stand) but that's a personal preference and I still feel they do a good job.

Freedom Planet is obviously HEAVILY inspired by classic Sonic titles (you probably wouldn't even be looking at it if you didn't know that) but also borrows a little from other Genesis masterpieces like Ristar, Gunstar Heroes, and Dynamite Headdy.
It is certainly inspired, but most importantly still feels like its own game. The level design is very diverse, and each one will give you something new to experience. It is also fairly challenging, perhaps due to using a health bar rather than Sonic's "rings" which keep you effectively invincible as long as you pick them up.

I only really have two complaints:
1) It feels "Furry" as hell. This is obviously subjective. If you like furries, you're in for a treat of a platformer. If they put you off, you may still enjoy the game, but presumably less so.
It may sound completely irrational, given that I've already confessed to being a Sonic fan, but somehow these feel... Furrier.

2) I'm not 100% amazed by the physics engine. The game plays well, but the engine pales in comparison to the classic Sonic games it represents. There is no momentum; from a stopped position, with barely any speed you can run directly up a wall and even along the ceiling.
Course-correcting a jump feels sloppy. When you change direction left/right mid-jump, it instantly over-corrects itself, and somewhat dramatically pushes you in the other direction. Not a huge deal, but can be annoying if you're trying to pin-point a precise jump. [EDIT: I haven't been experiencing this jumping issue anymore. Either it was patched, or more likely I was just having a controller problem before.]

Overall it's a fantastic platformer I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

Sonic would be proud. Actually he'd be jealous, since SEGA hasn't done him nearly this much justice in years.

Man, I haven't had this much fun with a 2D platformer since the Sega Genesis was the coolest thing ever. To sum it up in one word, Freedom Planet is awesome. When I first heard about it, I was a bit on the iffy side with it, since it seemed to me nothing more than a Sonic fan game. And yeah, it kinda is. But when I finally got my hands on this, all my expectations were blown away. This is a superb game. The visuals are sharp, gameplay is rock-solid, the soundtrack is great and adds so much to the game and it all compiles into a great game.

I mean ♥♥♥♥, dude, this has now passed Sonic 2 as my favorite 2D platformer. And Sonic 2 was the whole reason I bought a Genesis. This is not something to pass up. With the devs already planning to update the game with level and character expansions free of charge, it is most certainly worth 15 bucks.

TL;DR: If you want something to scratch the nostalgia itch for a 16-32bit era game that mishmashes Sonic, Ristar, Rocket Knight, and Megaman together, plus the sight of anthropomorphic characters doesn't immediately compel you to throw yourself off the nearest bridge, then consider picking this one up. Freedom Planet is derivative enough to feel familiar, but it manages to carve out an identity of its own.


Favorite bits:

+Depth to the physics based movement and characters quirks that feels good even if you aren't a speedrunner
+Memorable soundtrack and sound design
+Bosses and enemies are actually fun to fight and aren't pushovers
+Succeeds in being a retro throwback that doesn't completely miss the point

Biggest gripes:

-Story and amateur voice acting fluctuates between alright and grating. At least you have the option to skip it
-Character sprites distort as they rotate

Being one of only two games I've greenlit, (And I really didn't care about the other one,) I've been anticipating this game since long before it was on kickstarter. So how does it hold up? Well, as an indie action game, it is quite spectacular, despite a few noticeable rough edges. The platforming and combat are both very tight, thanks to excellent controls and the visuals are a retro treat.

The game is quite challenging on normal difficulty, however dropping the difficulty to easy makes it almost impossible to lose, even in the boss fights towards the end of the game. I haven't tried hard mode yet, but based on my experiences with normal, expect a considerable bump in the level of challenge. One thing I found very welcoming compared to a lot of platform games is the lack of cheap deaths. There are very few bottomless pits and the few instant death mechanics in the game are telegraphed well ahead of time with visual and audio cues, so they never feel unfair.

The audio needs a mention too, the music is fantastic throughout with a lot of subtle and not so subtle nods to old genesis classics. The voice acting is generally good, but can be inconsistent at times, more so in the earlier scenes in story mode. Some voiceovers are better than others, too, not only in terms of performance, but recording quality - unsurprising since the voicework was recorded on different hardware for different actors. But you have to remember this is about as indie as a game can get and the Troy Bakers and Tara Strongs of the world do not work for free. Fortunately for those who might be bothered by this, the game can be played in a "classic" mode, where all of the cutscenes between levels are skipped in favor of continuous action.

In terms of bugs, there is one very noticeable visual glitch with the airship not showing any thrust from its engines, but otherwise things behave as they should visually. Gameplay wise, I've had one major glitch so far where I phased through a solid ceiling when a block spawned on me - the block pushed me up through the ceiling. Oh and the unlockable Mahjong game's controls are very twitchy and prone to ignoring commands unless you turn control sensitivity right down.

Bottom line though, this is a fantastic piece of indie game development, especially given its humble origins. I'd fully recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in retro platformers and doubly to anyone that enjoys speedrunning.

Freedom Planet is one of the better platformers I've ever played!

This game feels like an upgraded Sonic + Mega Man (the classic ones) and offers lots of fun with long stages and heart-pumping boss battles. The pixel art feels truly retro and remembers me the sidescrollers gaming scene of the 90's.

Even with some similarities with the Sonic games, Freedom Planet plays a lot different, and this justifies the price. Totally worth your money and time if you loved the Mega Drive era.

Everything is absolutely stunning about this game. This game is absolutely amazing it's the love child of Sonic and Gunstar Heroes. The speed and precision with amazing platformer gimmicks with a extremely fun combat system. Adrenaline pumping boss fights that will make you scream in victory once you've overcome them. The story is cheesy, but I believe that definitely adds to the charm of this game. It's as if this game was made by Treasure Jr. The music is ear candy especially the first level of the final area. I beg of Galaxytrail to keep making more amazing games like this. I sincerely enjoyed every moment of what I played and am going to try and 100% all the achievements. Keep up the amazing work.

Freedom Planet combines the speed and fluidity of the classic Sonic games, with the combat focus of Mega Man, and the frantic boss battles of Gunstar Heroes. There are three playable characters to choose between, each with their own unique style and abilities. Sash Lilac is the fastest runner, and her methods of attack are using her long hair as a whip, and her Dragon Boost ability, which sends her flying at speed across the screen, dealing devastation to any enemies in the way. Carol Tea runs slower, and hits with a wild flurry of claws and boots. She can also wall jump, and has access to a motorcycle that can ride up walls and along ceilings. Milla Basset can dig through dirt to find items and secrets, summon shields to deflect incoming attacks, flap her ears to fly short distances, and create green blocks that can be thrown at enemies and obstacles, or charged up to unleash a powerful Shield Blast.

It’s easy to dismiss Freedom Planet as yet another Sonic clone, with no more reason to exist than Bubsy or Zool. But to do so is to dismiss a truly brilliant 2D platformer. Lilac, Carol and Milla are quirky, cute and lovable female leads, making a delightfully refreshing change from the male-dominated platformers new and old. Lord Brevon is a great villain, oozing evil with every word he says, and the supporting cast, along with the rich and detailed levels, give the world of Avalice real life and vibrancy. The story, told through animated cut-scenes in Adventure mode, is tightly scripted and well voiced. There is plenty of humour sprinkled throughout, along with some darker moments that only those with a metallic heart will be able to watch without feeling genuine sadness.

Freedom Planet isn’t perfect however. While there are four difficulty levels (Casual, Easy, Normal and Hard), Casual is, to be honest, too easy, and the difficulty jump to Normal is pretty steep, especially in the later levels. There are also a few bugs, though it’s very rare any actually affect the player’s ability to progress. And sometimes it’s easy to get lost in some of the larger levels. Players using a gamepad may also find the controls a little over-sensitive, although the sensitivity can be adjusted to compensate. Still, it does take a little edge off the precision, and in the final level, precision is everything. It’s also a shame that Milla is only playable in Classic mode, as her unique cut-scenes were cut to make the release date.

But these issues are pretty minor, especially when taking into account the budget for the game. Freedom Planet was funded through Kickstarter, and that raised a little over $25,000. Compared to even the lowest budget game from a big-name studio, it’s tiny. Yet from that has emerged a game that can shame the big names with it’s quality and attention to detail. And for me, it’s the attention to detail that really makes Freedom Planet. It’s impossible to list every little touch without accidentally spoiling the story, but among my favourites are Milla’s super-cute expression when she’s flying, Mayor Zao having some ’80s style bonuses like ‘+5 Sarcasm’ appearing above his head in cut-scenes, and Carol teasing Lilac by calling her ‘Ms Heropants’. Also, if a character is idle near a bench, they’ll sit on it instead of doing their normal idle animation. There’s even a section in one level where the characters will dance if idle!

I have a lot of love for the Sonic franchise, and I’ll be honest, it’s not exactly outlandish that I would like Freedom Planet. That much was clear from playing the demo several months ago. What I didn’t expect was that Freedom Planet would so quickly become one of my favourite games of all time, in the illustrious company of Portal 2, Super Mario 64, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Lilac, Carol and Milla have forever won a place in my heart, right alongside Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. And the best bit? Freedom Planet isn’t even finished yet! Milla will get her cut-scenes and be playable in Adventure mode, and two more characters, Torque and Spade, will be playable at some point in the future too.

Being a beta tester, I might as well throw out my short review for this game without spoiling anything. This game needs more attention, because, without a doubt, it is definitively one of the best platformers this year, and already on my GOTY list. It's far better than Sonic has been in years, hell, I honestly think it might be better than any Sonic game I've ever played. It feels like a lost 2D Sega Saturn game that could've been a Sonic spin-off but just as much feels like its own thing, and it succeeds on its own merits.

The gameplay is fantastic, capturing the physics, speed and flow of the classic Sonic games while adding fairly simple combat mechanics and making enemies a legitimate threat, feeling like a sort of a mixture of Sonic, Ristar, Mega Man and Gunstar Heroes, with well-designed levels that branch into multiple paths, with a ton of hidden cards to collect. The game is challenging, but not frustrating, most particularly the bosses. I'll just say this now: Freedom Planet does bosses better than Sonic ever did, both in terms of challenge and just how damn fun they are. The demo's one boss actually pales in comparison to what the rest of the game has in store. And in some boss fights, the characters you're not playing as actually assist you in multiple ways.

The visuals and music are superb, though that's evident in the demo. The narrative is interesting, because while the story and script isn't amazing and revolutionary, and isn't really meant to be, there's just so much heart put into it and it's so well-done that there's more to it than just retro cheese. I love the characters and the story, despite my own general dislike of cutscenes, and I actually found myself laughing at some points (in a good way). But I was genuinely surprised by what Galaxytail was willing to do on-screen, which leads us to the next point - the star of the show might be in fact Lord Brevon, the game's antagonist. His evil and cruelty isn't overstated, and acquits himself impressively in the game's opening, which is in the demo. It's the sort of introduction that most villains would kill for. And that's before he performs some major dog-kicking moments later on. But that's not all to him, he's also incredibly crafty and pragmatic, and it shows in the final stage, for example. He's such a huge ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and yet now he's one of my favorite villains. Oh, and he pulls no punches as the final boss. The opening is only a preview of what's in store for you. Expect multiple game overs.

All in all, it's a fantastic game, and not only embraces its inspirations, but transcends them to become its own unique experience. It's a must-play, IMO.

If you've ever been a fan of the Sega Genesis and its games, then I can guarantee you'll love this game. It's got great gameplay, excellent spritework (barring a few inconsistencies) and splendid music! Freedom Planet is easily my favourite indie game I've played this year!

There's even a demo that you can try out, if you're still on the fence on buying it: http://freedomplanet.galaxytrail.com/download.htm