Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (Wii U eShop) Review

Back in the 80’s I’m sure most of the people reading this were young enough that they relied on their parents to buy game machines due to various holiday celebrations. With this event you would be stuck with the machine of their choice despite what you have suggested and pleaded for again and again and again. Many had their dreams shattered when come Christmas-day they came down stairs and instead of getting a NES under the Kwanza tree like requested, they were greeted by an ugly grey Atari 400 because it was “educational”.

An interesting roll on effect of these purchases meant that it led to a big push by this new disappointed sector of gamers. Several must-have games would emulate the Nintendo experience even if it meant copying some ideas outright. Eventually this mess formed the “The Great Giana Sisters”. You don’t have to be the brightest bulb in the packet to realise that it was a very loosely covered up clone of Super Mario Brothers with a gender change. The fact that Nintendo even tried to suite the developers because the end product was so close to the Mario series since the first level was practically copies verbatim from Super Mario Brothers just goes to show how close the end product was.

It was not a great game by any means but it did get a fair bit of attention in its time as a reasonable game on the more open platforms of the time. Even titles of this calibre always lived in the shadow of the Nintendo games and it’s platforms it did get a small following as a great alternative. So the fact that some 25 years after it first released a true sequel to the original has been released and on a Nintendo platform no less is a small yet notable event.

Developer Black Forest Games have been given a chance to revive this forgotten series and they have done a brilliant job to say the least. This game is related to the original in two ways, the name and the fact that it is a platformer. Beyond this lays all new content and concepts.

You are in the roll of the Giana Sisters (well duh!) Giana and Maria. One night Maria is suddenly kidnapped when a dragon using a portal and it is up to Giana to save her using her powers that allow her to change herself and the dream world around her.  In one form of the world it is a dark and twisted nightmare filled with demons and all forms of nasty elements – but you can switch in an instant to the dream world filled with owls and cutesy creatures which changes the entire way the world looks and how it plays. It is this twin persona nature of the game that gives it so much magic and charm.

Doors, level elements and enemies will change based on the worlds current state which is used to great effect throughout. At the simplest level it means that gems you collect are colour-coded and are only available if you are in the correct state, in a more present manner it can determine the flow of platforms and if they even exist or not. To add to the multiverse nature of the world is that Giana’s powers change based on this state. In the nightmare state she has a twirling glide attack were as in the Dream world it is a direct bust based effect, these will need to be combined to be effective in this title.

It is this double nature world design that gives the game it’s brilliant edge over other platformers, it is smart and well thought out in every aspect. The idea is nothing new as the colour/state switching games genre has been done before, Fractured Soul on 3DS is a great example. The difference is that this game has excellent level design and handling. The worlds are vast and dynamic, the concepts and ideas are unique in the nature and implemented with excellent level design from start to finish. I good idea is one thing but it is the execution that brings this one to life. Outside of the New Super Mario Brothers games, this is some of the best side scrolling platforming action I have played in years.

If the great gameplay was not enough to convince you of this title then consider that the presentation on show is absolutely gorgeous. The visuals alone are a big selling point; the world is lush in every way. Every element is dense with detail – the texturing, lighting, bump mapping and practically every tech buzz word you care to throw at this title are all in fine form here.  The world is complex yet consistent; it is always pleasing to the eye even in the darkest parks of the adventure.

Of special note is the world morphing that takes place as you switch between forms, it is incredibly varied in the visual styles presented and it is handled in a remarkably pleasing fashion. It is definitely one of the many highlights of this experience. The system never slows down despite how much is going on at all times, this is what games that are optimised for the Wii U hardware should aspire to look like.

Audio wise is a very interesting area as well. Sound effects are all present and appropriate, never over baring and always present.  Soundtrack however is a different beast altogether, it is not the most memorable thing around but it’s dynamics which how it is tied to the game world standout. As you switch between states so does the music style’s presented, it is a great example of the dynamics concept being applied to every facet of this title.

Always keeping the environment’s elements in a state of constant change it one of the most charming effects of this entire title, it really gives this title a lot of personality. The fact that it has a brilliant game underlying just adds to a package that was already firing on all cylinders.

While the story is fairly weak through out the entire game; in it’s own ways thats a good thing as it doesn’t serve as an unnecessary distraction to the solid under pinning the rest of the game has. Games like this have never been based on great stories but it it does help to not have intrude on the overall game.

There are a few minor flaws to be fair but it all relates to the technology and not the gameplay. The load times can be fairly hefty and near the minute mark when transitioning to a new level; this is somewhat expected as the game does come in at a staggering 3.5GB, so make sure that if you are low on space to budget for this beast to occupy your gaming tech slab. Another minor issue is that the off screen play does not have the games sound at this moment; this error should be fixed with a patch issue in the future. The fact that these are the only issues that I can care to mention is nothing but good news.

This is a title that for the most part came out of nowhere. While it was initially pushed and funded via Kickstarter, we had little idea about how this title would turn out. A reboot of a mostly forgotten clone game from the 80’s doesn’t sound like it would be a recipe for a great game. And yet Black Forest games have come a long and proven that with a few fresh ideas and a knack (not the Ps4 game) for building a solid game experience that great experiences are possible.

If you are a fan of platform games, you owe it to yourself to play one of the most original and well balance games in the genre we have seen in years. It’s fresh and unique in its ways and definitely one of the best platformers to come out in recent years, not only on Wii U but all platforms. If you are not a huge fan still try to check this title out any way you can, there might just be something in this for you that you didn’t expect.