Necrosphere Deluxe review for PS Vita, PS4, Switch

Right up front, I?m going to admit that I absolutely sucked at Necrosphere Deluxe.

Mind you, this isn?t really that big an admission. Necrosphere is designed so that you suck. It?s one of those retro-inspired, tough-as-nails platformers, where death awaits you at every turn and it often feels like the game is intent on punishing you for the sin of playing it.

Even by the exacting standards of retro-inspired, tough-as-nails platformers, though, Necrosphere Deluxe probably takes things a little far. After all, not only are the levels laid out in such a way that you?re guaranteed to die dozens of times for every little bit you advance, the game also adds what it likes to call ?innovative controls? — by which it means you can only move forward and backward.

As you can imagine, that?d be tough under normal circumstances. In a game where environmental deathtraps are everywhere, and you need to have razor-sharp reflexes to do anything? It almost crosses the line into downright impossible.

Of course, if constant death and endless trial-and-error are your thing, then Necrosphere Deluxe will have plenty for you to look forward to. And did I mention that it?s also a maze? Because it is, and its punishment for taking a wrong turn is — you guessed it — more death.

Personally, I can?t say I find it all that appealing. I get that the whole point of the subgenre is to make games as hard as possible, and if you?re craving a platformer that punishes you for playing it, you?ll find it here. But at a certain point, it all feels like a bit much — and in Necrosphere Deluxe, that point is where puzzles with no margin for error meets two-button twitch controls.

Unties provided us with a Necrosphere Deluxe PS4/Vita code for review purposes.