Monday, November 30, 2020

REVIEW: Uurnog Uurnlimited


After success of Super Mario Bros. in 1985, Nintendo released a sequel that was deemed too similar to the original and too difficult for western players. So Nintendo America took an unrelated platformer called Doki Doki Panic, threw Mario in it, and called in Mario Bros. 2. The game's most notable departures from its non-predecessor was the ability to jump on top of enemies, pick them up, and throw them. Game designer Nicklas Nygren must've thought that one concept was so hilarious because 30 years later he made a whole game based around it.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of Uurnog Uurnlimited courtesy of Raw Fury.
Opinions are my own.



Enter the wacky & whimsical world of Uurnog Uurnlimited! Explore a silly, puzzle-filled land full of cubes, bombs, weird people & adorable animals — then steal them all! Play single player or co-op as you jump, grab, throw & teleport your colorful collection back to the Save Room (and try not to destroy it).

Uurnog Unlimited is weird. Like really weird. But it does weird and funny right. Instead of being a generic game where characters make quips and pop culture references, the gameplay itself is absurd to the point that solving puzzles is as hilarious as it is rewarding.

You assume the role of a child with one goal: collect all of the things. There are cats, birds, blocks, and other little doodads hidden throughout the world and you have to go and get them and bring them back to your base.



It sounds simple, but the levels have an almost metroidvania set-up, so you constantly have to backtrack and to areas after you find the right key or skip early puzzles until you acquire the right tool from a later level. It's not just jumping on enemies and throwing them at each other. In true platform fashion, each enemy has it's own movement pattern, method of attack, and method of destruction.

One of the game's most notable features is its algorythmic music. I... I can't tell what that means? According to the site the melody, tempo, key, and other aspects of the background music are changed depending on gameplay stuff. I guess it's sort of an extreme example of how Mario Kart music speeds up when you enter the final lap? I don't know, I don't have an ear for music but this concept was too interesting to not mention.


The graphics are fantastic. I really dig the weird 80s vaporwave color scheme and aesthetic. There's no story or context to speak of so you're left to figure out just what this world is and how you arrived there. I'm a big fan of the brain dead face on every character and object in the game. It really sells the "What?" but also the "Whatever" of the game.

The puzzles and action in Uurnog Uurnlimited are zany fun and you’re always discovering new things to keep you entertained. A lot of games get comedy wrong but this is a great example of how it can be done correctly.

Uurnog Uurnlimited is out now on Steam and the Nintendo Switch from Raw Fury.