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One of the more interesting aspects of the indie game market is seeing ideas mixed together from different genres or series, often creating an experience that feels new in the process. There are times when this is a revelation, with the combination of the two styles feeling very organic, but then there are also times when the result simply feels like the two were bolted together without any cohesion. That ends up being the case with Spheroids, which attempts to marry together action platforming with the arcade classic Pang! (or Buster Bros, depending on where you played it) but it never really comes together fully. If you’re unfamiliar with Pang! the gameplay is relatively straightforward. There are balls that are bouncing around that you try to shoot with a spear that you fire upwards. If you hit the ball it will pop, and depending on the type and size of the ball it may split into 2 smaller ones. Throw in some platforms, floors that will be destroyed when they’re shot, and a couple of power-ups that include slowing or stopping time, dynamite, or being able to shoot more spears at once and you have the bulk of that classic game. In the case of Spheroids that formula isn’t deviated from much, but in order to stand out there are sections of platforming that have been added. As you progress you’ll get a grappling hook, gravity boots, and more to keep layering on new challenges but for the most part it all remains pretty light and not terribly inspired. For the most part that’s Spheroids biggest problem, it faithfully takes some ideas from a variety of influences (including foreground/background action that specifically feels straight out of Mutant Mudds) but it really doesn’t do anything new with them. The platforming never really feels satisfying or inspired, it just breaks up the arcade Pang! action. Unfortunately, the majority of play inspired by that arcade classic also stays safely within the lines, never really breaking out and doing anything of note to stand out in that area either. While Spheroids offers up a reasonably good experience it never does anything to get out from the shadow of the games that inspired it.
Justin Nation, Score:Bad [5.5]