E3 2009: Preview: Flip's Twisted World - News
by Daniel Share-Strom , posted on 09 June 2009 / 2,103 Views
Developed by Majesco, Flip's Twisted World is a 3D platformer poised to turn the Wii on its head.
Our diminuitive hero, Flip, must work his way through many varied worlds, including an ice world, a jungle canopy, a cave called 'the depths', the workswitch factory, and, of course, a bunch of castles.
Along the way, he'll find collectibles, solve puzzles, and defeat enemies by making strategic use of gravity. Sound familiar? Our rep made no bones about comparing the game to Super Mario Galaxy (can you blame him?). The difference here is that, unlike everyone's favourite plumber, who was at the mercy of his current planet's gravity field, Flip, being a magician, has the handy ability to manipulate the position of the world at his will.
At any time, by rotating the Wii remote to the left or right, the entire world would turn 90 degrees in that direction. We were shown the practical uses of this power when our rep took us through a castle world called The Keep. There were many instances along the path where Flip would run out of track, so to speak. When this occurred, a simple twist of the Wii Remote would rotate the world so that Flip was standing on the wall (or ceiling), and then he could continue on his merry way. This method could also be used to make boxes fall onto enemies or onto switches. I was initially worried that it might be a common occurrence to accidentally make a miscalculation with a turn and sent Flip plummeting into the abyss, but we were shown that the arrow that shows what direction the world is going to sway will turn red if this is about to happen.
Eventually, our rep made his way to the boss of the level, the dragon who called the Keep his own. But this was no big, mean, scary dragon--he believed that he was a knight protecting a princess from Flip's evil ways, as evidenced by the helmet he wears like a hat and the massive lance in his arm. To win the day, Flip had to make his way along a long twist-laden path to reach a castle tower, which he then had to duck inside at the last possible moment to trick the dragon into dive-bombing it. This would daze him and give Flip the opportunity to strike him several times before the tower crumbled and he had to make his way to the next one (each successive path got progressively more difficult to navigate). Once this was done seven or eight times, the dragon was defeated, and our champion could move on to the next world. There will undoubtedly be more clever uses of the twisting mechanic as the game wears on, and Majesco are considering allowing an alternate control method where presses of the D-pad rotate the world. We were told that each of the five worlds will last 1 to 2 hours, depending upon the player's skill, and Flip gains new powers upon the completion of each.
The graphics, as expected for a game of this type, are bright and full of primary colors, with a high amount of contrast. The little blue protagonist, Flip, animates with a ton of pep, as if he knows he has a job to do, and the dragon acted so dumb (in a good way!) that you almost felt sorry for him. The game is still clearly a work in progress, as the Wii crashed about halfway through the demo and we had to restart (though we were told it was the first time it had happened all day). The music seems to have very high production values, as it's composed by Tommy Tallarico of Metroid Prime fame.
Flip's Twisted World is set to make gamer's dizzy in January 2010.
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I like the way this game is shaping up. :) Though it seems like it's gonna be real short. I mean, 10 hrs at best. 5 If you're quick. Well, we'll see. At least it's a pretty original game, finally! :)
@famousringo, how often does that happen? Platformers are the absolute primary example for lack of polish.
i like this kind of games : )
This game has a great premise. What it needs is stellar level design and meticulous polish.
This announcement should have included the trailer or the E3 trailer just to show people how the game is played. They are available on Youtube. I do not know how to embed a flash player in this part of VGchartz.
However, the article is still good and informative. Let's hope Majesco advertises the game. It has the potential to be a hit.
