[quote]A review copy was provided by the developer.[/quote]
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[h1]Overall Rating - High Quality ★★★★☆[/h1]
[h1]First Impressions[/h1]
I've seen Tightrope Theatre (TT) as a possible review title for a while, but thought the game might be on the hard side. A frustrating experience isn't something I wanted at the time, so when I looked at the achievements, it was a relief to see difficult sounding ones being completed with fairly high percentages. Ultimately, the game is just a variant of a platforming title, something I'm competent with, so how hard could this rope trip me up?
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
Many platformers don't allow the player to take any damage, as they die instantly from all obstacles. Often, this is incorporated with either rage games or titles with high difficulty, meant to push the player to play flawlessly. TT avoids both despite having tight jumps, short windows to get past obstacles, and little leeway for dodging hazards. Most of it boils down to each stage being comprised of a single screen, as a successful run for many will take only a few seconds. Quite a few stages can be tricky and kill you a few times, but as a guess, I never had to try more than 30 times on a stage before I could beat it.
Something I find misleading is the high clearance rate for the harder achievements in the game. As written, you'd have to clear each theatre while only dying five times at most. It'd be one thing to beat every stage under that parameter, being able to try them until you've reduced the death toll enough so that you only died five times in that theatre. However, you have to complete a run of each level, so that even if you hadn't died until the 17th stage, if you botched the run at that point, it'd count for nothing. I can't believe so many people who've played TT have managed to do that. This isn't a complaint, merely an observation, although I do applaud those who can pull it off.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3126988374
[h1]Controls[/h1]
This isn't something you can tell from watching footage of the game, but there's a degree of momentum that you have to adapt to. On top of that, it feels quite different when you're merely moving side to side on a platform, jumping into the air, or are being sprung off a bouncy surface. Overall, you'll get used to it with time, but I certainly think it could be more fine-tuned so the character doesn't feel slippery. You do have the option to play TT with either a controller or the keyboard though, which is a plus.
[h1]Story[/h1]
Chester is a humble street performer, when he spots a flier for a world-famous circus in need of a tightrope act. The fine print mentions something about them not being responsible for anyone's death, which I imagine is true for most carnivals, but he foolheartedly rushes in anyways. If he somehow makes it out alive, fame and fortune will surely be his! Based on the conditions of this act though, that seems like a pretty big if.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3126988513
[h1]Visuals[/h1]
Technically, TT plays by the old school rules of Atari games, in the sense that there's no screen scroll. Every stage is contained within a single screen, meaning there's a limit on how many obstacles you have to worry about. Some areas certainly feel a bit tight, and there are instances where the border obscures elements in the stage. However, it's a decent demonstration of how much can be placed on the screen without compromising gameplay. Since your character is constantly riding a unicycle, there aren't many animation frames, but he looks pretty animated regardless. I think the bright colors and theatre surroundings help the game's appearance.
[h1]Sound Design[/h1]
Each of the level packs in TT comes with their own song, which ties in to the theme of that theatre. All of them have similar instrumentation that makes for a good fit to the overall carnival vibe. Despite them usually having a quick tempo, they aren't distractions from the finesse needed to get through stages. Even though they're all about two minutes long, since any particular theatre doesn't take an incredibly long time to clear, the songs won't overstay their welcome. A feature that helps with this is that after each failure, the song continues playing without disruption. If it didn't, the constantly interrupting music would get distracting and annoying. Personally, I really liked the aquatic theatre song.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3127043732
[h1]Pros[/h1]
🌟 Every level is quite short, so you shouldn't get stuck for too long before being able to move on.
🌟 Two sets of levels were added to the game as free content updates.
🌟 After a failed attempt, the stage reloads again promptly.
[h1]Cons[/h1]
❌ Don't be fooled by the curtains and background borders. They aren't solid walls that box you in, so you can go flying off the screen. This isn't that annoying honestly, but what can be a bother is when an obstacle isn't more clear because of these stage elements.
❌ The controls feel a bit slippery and floaty.
❌ It's a short game.
[h1]Tips[/h1]
🔍 Sometimes if you go immediately as the stage starts that makes it easier to get past an obstacle. However, even when that's not the case, timing is often a crucial component.
🔍 Get used to making back and forth motions when moving. It's the best way to navigate through the game.
🔍 You can adjust the height of your jumps by how hard you push the button.
[h1]Final Thoughts[/h1]
Unless I complained too much about the game's length, my only other gripe revolves around how the game handles, as that unicycle's a bit slippery. It may not be perfect, yet it's still functional, and I beat every stage the game threw at me. Considering how short the game is, it'd be pretty steep at its full asking price. I believe its sale price of $1 is fair enough, although whether you'd grind for the achievements would determine how much time you get out of it. For an average player who just finishes all the theatres, it's probably a 90 minute playthrough, if that. If you want a precision platformer that never gets too frustrating due to how small each stage is, I'd recommend TT.
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[table]
[tr]
[th]PC Specs[/th]
[th]Performance[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Ryzen 2700
RTX 2070
16GB RAM
ADATA SSD
1920x1080
[/td]
[td]The game ran without incident on default settings.
💖 - TT is healthy
[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
