Tiny Thor
In the 1980s and 1990s, hundreds of arcade titles were released around the world and in order to stand out amongst other titles, most games used familiar intellectual properties to attract potential players. This led to comics and cartoons, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, being turned into successful arcade titles that would usually follow up with a console port. The popular French comic, Asterix, was no different and it would be one of the main inspirations for the development of Tiny Thor. Released almost exclusively to a European audience, the various Asterix games were considered some of the most beautiful and aesthetically pleasing 2D platformers of their time.
There are a lot of similarities between Tiny Thor and the Asterix series, including the protagonist being a, well, "tiny" version of the God of Thunder. As the brave yet naive son of Odin, Thor is on his way to his birthday party when trouble strikes. It becomes a coming-of-age story for the young god much like the games of the Wonder Boy series where the tale of a young adventurer is told as they become a man. At least, that's what I gathered from the opening cutscene and the beginning level. There are these two crows that seemingly observe Thor and it's clear they have an ulterior motive, but again Thor is a naive yet cautious boy. He runs headfirst into danger for the sake of a challenge but knows when a pair of talking crows are trying to swindle him for his gems.
Of course, Thor would be nothing without his Mjölnir and Tiny Thor is no different. Much like the iconic hammer in the legend itself, the hammer always has a way to return to Thor no matter how far or what angle it is thrown. The geniuses at Asylum Square decided to take this fact and turn it into one of the most interesting yet frustrating game mechanics I've ever experienced in a platformer. I praised Gematombe, a VS puzzle game, for combining a puzzle game best known for its single-player aspect in a multiplayer setting. While I didn't think it was possible for Arkanoid to be reinvented once again, Tiny Thor surprised me by making the first and possibly only Breakout puzzle platformer.
As a quick refresher from the Gematombe article, Arkanoid, or games in the block-breaking genre utilizes a projectile that destroys objects and will bounce off walls until it either enters the void or returns to the player's "paddle." In the actual game of Arkanoid, this is how it's played, but in Tiny Thor, this is how Thor's hammer is utilized. Pressing the attack button will throw Mjölnir and it will keep traveling until it hits an object or it reaches its maximum range. If the hammer hits an object, it will bounce off onto another object, repeating indefinitely until Thor leaves the hammer's tracking range or it returns to him by calling it back.
There are several unique level layouts that bear similarities to a "Super Breakout" style map and with the ability to precision aim and throw, Tiny Thor quickly becomes an Asterix-esque 16-bit platformer by visual only, turning into this unique experience that tests the player's brain muscle. Scattered throughout the levels are red gems and collecting enough gems will unlock bonus levels. These are something players will experience in most platformers new and old. However, some of the gems require the player to think outside the box, coincidentally sometimes involving a box to reveal hidden areas just out of reach.
Collecting these gems will unlock bonus levels that will test a player's skill in a platforming gauntlet of increasing difficulty. This is similar to both Klonoa titles, featuring bonus post-game levels that pushed its gameplay engine to its limits. Some of the cheeky tricks I've seen in some of Tiny Thor's bonus levels included dissolving platforms and low-ceiling spikes. Sometimes it was a combination of the two, so I had to let the platform dissolve for me to fall low enough to not hit the spikes but not too low that I drown. Of course, clearing them feels satisfying as one can expect and none of the levels, including these bonus optional levels, took longer than a few minutes to clear.
One thing that I enjoyed about Tiny Thor is that every level has a specific theme, not just in its vivid backgrounds but for the greater sense of world-building. An early level pits Thor against a ravenous hive of bees who aren't thrilled to see a young god rummaging through their honeycomb. This is one of the first examples of a "chase sequence" where the player will instantly fail if they try to "outrun the bees." Using the hammer to thin the numbers of the infinite horde is what the game expects you to do and it's sequences like these that make Tiny Thor an entertaining "Saturday Morning cartoon video game not based on a Saturday Morning cartoon."
Players who wish to try a platformer that stealthily doubles as a puzzle game in disguise will enjoy Tiny Thor despite its challenging sequences. The infinite lives the game gives you helped me a lot and it's always a valid option to take a break and come back should it become too stressful. It reminded me of Crash 4 in that regard and I still consider that to be one of the best modern 3D platformers released in the past decade, so there's good news for Tiny Thor!
Tiny Thor is now available on Steam. This review was made possible thanks to Gameforge and the guys at Asylumn Square.