By Chris Jackson
Combining narrative influences from 80s and 90s sci-fi / action movies like Blade Runner, Back To The Future and Total Recall with gameplay from classic cinematic platformers of the same era (Another World, Flashback, Prince of Persia), Lunark finds Earth’s moon transformed into a giant spaceship in a last-ditch attempt to save humanity by transporting millions of human embryos to a new habitable planet. Playing as a young man named Leo, who boasts some rather feline facial characteristics, you’ll play a part in a rebellion against the totalitarian regime that surrounds the initiative while also trying to uncover the mystery behind Leo’s origins.
Leo is able to run, jump, grab ledges, roll, and fire a gun, and will use all of these abilities to travel through a handful of strikingly-designed environments filled with puzzles, hazards and enemies. As with the games that inspired Lunark, Leo’s movements are restricted, so he isn’t able to jump while in mid-step or start shooting while moving. This allows for a certain level of realism in terms of how Leo moves around, but also demands extreme precision from the player. A slightly fiddly control scheme can cause frustration as you’ll often find yourself rolling or jumping from ledges that you didn’t really mean to roll or jump from, but there are plenty of checkpoints to ensure that you don’t lose too much progress (although some of these are slightly oddly placed, sending you further back than you might otherwise have appreciated).
The colourful and chunky pixel art doesn’t allow for a huge amount of detail, but it’s certainly eye-catching and very much in keeping with the games that inspired it, and the synthwave soundtrack gives a handy boost to the futuristic atmosphere. Lunark isn’t a game you’re likely to get lost in – it’s fairly compact and can be completed within a couple of hours or so – but the “practise makes perfect” gameplay and compelling story make it very much worth a try.
