While there are many side-scrolling platformers on the Switch, none of them play quite like Symphonia. While there are also a number of notable and challenging precision platformers on Switch, none of them are quite as visually lush and well-animated as Symphonia. Having grown up playing in the band, I’ll admit that the musically-oriented hook helped to pull me in, but it was the generally challenging-but-fair gameplay that kept me engaged.

In the game your character’s instrument of choice is a violin, useful for playing music to trigger switches, using your bow a bit like a pogo stick, and further enhancements the further along you go. Since there are no enemies to contend with, your focus will simply be on skill and precision platforming, and honestly for the most part that’s plenty to get you sweating. As is the case with most titles like this, sometimes your own impatience will be your worst enemy, as you’ll wait for moving platforms and elements to get aligned properly for you to move through. Other times you’ll need to barrel forward as quickly and precisely as possible, as you deal with breakable platforms and other elements that don’t allow for hesitation. For the most part the challenges remain quite doable within a few attempts, though if you’re trying to be a completionist you’ll absolutely be sorely tested.

One thing I did appreciate, once I’d managed to reach a few tough-to-reach spots and challenges, was the ability to make the game a little more approachable, specifically allowing for a double jump. Sure, if you’re a purist you could insist on working out every section with only the basics, but even with that assistance it wasn’t like everything suddenly got simpler. One thing that I wasn’t as thrilled with were occasional technical hiccups that were disruptive, though thankfully the checkpoints are generally so incremental I don’t recall ever losing any meaningful progress regardless.

While the controls aren’t quite as tight as the likes of Super Meat Boy, and the secrets aren’t as wildly fun, Symphonia has plenty of positives of its own. Its look is simply stunning, and it has a great soundtrack to boot, which helps provide some pull to keep you coming back for more. I also appreciate that the challenging sections aren’t typically too long before giving you another automatic save point, keeping away from throwing too many obstacles at you at once, punishing you for making mistakes a few tough sections in. The result is really a platformer that doesn’t play quite like anything else out there, which isn’t something you’re able to say often, and that manages to walk the line of being a challenge without typically being cruel.