Smilemo

While Smilemo has been out for a couple of years now, thanks to some switch gift cards that were burning a hole in my pocket, I decided to try this out! This game is awesome, if you love challenging, but fun platforming games then this is the perfect game for you to play. This is what I like to call a “one more go” kind of game where you just keep on wanting to play and even when you fail, you always feel like if you have just one more go, you may be able to beat this level. It may be simple, but there is so much fun, charm, and challenge in the simplicity!

In A Computer World!

One of the things that is fun about Smilemo is the story. The game takes place in a computer world that is being ravaged by a virus that is just destroying everything in its path. However, there is last hope and that is our little emoji themed hero who is sent in to grab all the bits of the anti-virus program in order to get rid of this virus. Hey, I have played platformers with way lamer stories than this! I really like what they have done here, it may not be super story driven, but what is here is fun and something that I had a great deal of fun with.

Get Back… Yall Don’t Know Me Like That

That is right, I just did a Luda reference! Smilemo is a fast paced platforming game that has great controls. You always feel like you are in full control of our emoji hero and he can run, jump, air dash and wall jump his way through the various stages. The idea of each stage is to grab all the pieces of the anti-virus and make it to the end of the stage. The twist here is that when you hit an obstacle or part of the virus, it knocks you back! This may not sound like much, but one wrong jump can lead to your getting knocked back the better part of the whole level! There is a handy and fair checkpoint system if you do fully fail, but this is the kind of game that is way more challenging to play than you would think. However, that challenge does not ruin the fun in any way, if anything as I said, it makes you always want to have just one more go.

Turning The Tables!

One of the things that surprised me the most about Smilemo was the boss battles. With the knockback gimmick that the game has I did not actually expect it to have bosses, I am not sure why, but I did not see how a boss battle would work in a game like this! The way bosses in the game work are that they will chase you through the level, one knockback here and you are well and truly screwed! However, if you can make it to the end of the level, you can turn the tables and put this big ass virus in its place! I found this to be such a fun and unique way to go about boss battles.

Get Your Smilemo Plush Right Here

I just love the whole style of Smilemo! It has a very cool pixel art style and the way it looks reminds me of something like Broforce and that is meant as a compliment. Despite being so small, our titular hero has a ton of personality and I think that they have really nailed the character design here and in all honesty, I feel it is a massive missed opportunity that they have not merched the hell out of this little guy. I also have to give them a lot of credit for the awesome sound design, I tried to play this while listening to music, but I just found that the actual game soundtrack and sound effects helped get me in the zone.

Pros:

• The main character has a ton of personality
• Getting knocked back gives this platformer a unique twist
• It is challenging, but never at the expense of the fun
• I love the pixel art that brings this computer virus world to life

Cons:

• This is a game that I feel needs a physical release
• It is a shame this has not caught on like a game like Super Meat Boy did