Ruffy and the Riverside Review : The Essence of a Platformer | The Gamerheads Podcast

Platform reviewed: PC

Price: $19.99 USD

Growing up in the 90’s and early 2000’s, I felt like I was living in the golden age of platforming games, from Super Mario 64 to Banjo Kazooie. These types of games were enjoyed by so many people and it seemed like the next evolution from the side-scrolling games of the decade before. Then it seemed like developers stopped making them. Either they were following the money making trends, where graphics changed to more expansive open worlds or to the monetization of shooters and battle passes. I think that platformers still have a special place in my heart. The ability to pick up the game, find some stars or golden bananas. Then jump into a completely new world to explore and collect to your heart's content. So, when Ruffy and the Riverside was a reviewable option for us at Gamerheads, I jumped at the opportunity. I was so happy I did because this game allowed me to feel that nostalgia I felt more than twenty years ago.

When I first started playing the game, what stood out to me and I think what will stand out for many, is the art style. Each character, and even most of the scenery, have been meticulously hand drawn and coloured in with markers. This style gave this game an incredibly unique and originative look. The music is also something that I was grooving to while playing; it's very akin to the 90’s Saturday morning cartoon funk genre.

The game takes place in the world of Riverside, a fast paced world where side quests and puzzles greeted me about every few steps I would take. After the loss of the “Sacred Letters” of Riverside, which looks very similar to the classic Hollywood sign, I was tasked with retrieving these letters to save the World Core whose energy was taken by the game's baddie, Groll, a black Rubik's cube looking villain that is trying to take over Riverside.

I played as the “Chosen One” named Ruffy, an energetic bear with the ability to SWAP textures in the game. In other worlds, I was able to copy different things in the game and paste them to other objects. For example, many times I would have to find a way to an island, only to find that the steel boxes were just out of jump range.  As Ruffy, I could copy the wood texture of a tree and paste it on to the steel boxes turning them into wooden boxes and allowing them to float in the water, which allowed me to jump more easily to the island. This is just one example of the many things I could do with this ability and it is used in a lot of the puzzles that were given to me in the game.

I was also tagged along by Ruffy’s friend Pip, a bumble bee that seemed to have some sort of sly remark with each conversation. Pip also provided me a glide ability that I used by jumping first before going into the glide all while holding onto them. This definitely reminded me of playing Banjo Kazooie as a kid. Ruffy and Pip definitely seem to get some inspiration from the old duo. Ruffy is the free caring protagonist while Pip is the wisecracking sidekick. Sir Eddler was also a character that shows up a lot in the game and is a noble mole Knight of the world who also has an obsession with gems. Sir Eddler is the guide who summons Ruffy to help locate mystical stones called “Marbles,” inadvertently setting the adventure in motion of the game.

Another thing in the game that I enjoyed was that I collected these items called Dreamstones which can be hidden behind puzzles or given by certain characters when finishing quests. I was able to use these Dreamstones to create my own painted textures of the game world. The first one I got allowed me to repaint the water texture of any water I saw in the game. I would get a block to paint on with my cursor and this would remap all the rivers in the game with my own drawings. I can see this being an incredibly fun way to make the world your own. I was also able to turn this feature on or off for each texture I got, so if I loved my drawing of water I could turn that on but maybe my sand texture wasn’t looking right I could use the default game look.

Final Grade: A

Ruffy and the Riverside is a love letter to platforming games that have come before, and I feel like we don’t get these types of creative and charming platformers as much these days. I am hoping that Zockrates Laboratories, the developers of Ruffy and Riverside, as well as other indie developers, keep the platforming genre alive for years to come.

Review code provided by Zockrates Laboratories and Pirate PR