Hyphen

Hyphen is a less polished Kuru Kuru Kururin that has some questionable design decisions. That's not to say it's not a fun game because the base gameplay is still intensely satisfying. I do however, have some issues with certain elements of the game: [list] [*]The neon Geometry Wars knockoff aesthetic is appealing, but the glow around elements can be frustrating when you're trying to make tight movements. [*]Timer doesn't reset when you die before setting a checkpoint. It seems like a minor gripe but it's one of those small things that you notice when it's missing. [*]Resetting when you die before setting a checkpoint takes a little bit too long personally. Maybe have a button bound to reset from the start? [*]Hitting switches triggers cutscenes that, while maybe necessary to tell you where to go, are quite long and frustrating since you're just stuck there. [*]When you do die (which is often) it can occasionally feel cheap. That's not to say this game's hitboxes are bad, they seem quite good in fact. What I think is happening is that when you hit a wall you instantly disappear and go back to the checkpoint. This means that you don't actually get a good look at exactly where you collided. It's weird saying this after talking about how other elements need to be faster, but maybe have a number of frames after you collide where you can still see the stick? It'd be hard to design in an effective manner but I'm not a fan of how it currently is. [/list] That said, the obstacles are well designed for the most part, with you being able to develop your own unique techniques for dealing with them. Those things that rotate and shoot arrows in opposite directions can go screw themselves though. Levels feel fair and the difficulty ramp is satisfying from what I've experienced. I don't mind the soundtrack but I ended up turning it off in favour of my own music player. I found tracks repeated a bit too often and there were only a few tracks I legitimately wanted to listen to. They were also a bit disparate for my tastes, making the moment when the game changes songs feel occasionally jarring. I'm in two minds about Hyphen. I really like the base mechanics but a lot of the elements surrounding it push me away. It says a lot about how strong Kuru Kuru Kururin's formula is that this is a positive review. For reference, I've only played about 2 hours of this game, I initially idled for cards before actually playing the game. I hit level 15, quit the game to get some sleep and next time I launched the game it had lost my save. I might touch this again but that's frustrating. There's not many games in this genre, so I recommend people give this a shot, especially if you can look past Hyphen's lack of polish (those glossy button prompts and Xbox 360 controller layout give me flashbacks). This isn't an unqualified recommendation but it's $5 and that feels about right.