Lunistice review for Nintendo Switch, PC

Given that the PS1-influenced games I?ve played relatively recently were both deeply weird, when I read that Lunistice also had stylistic debt to that era, I wasn?t sure what to expect given that it?s a 3D platformer. Would it be akin to something like Super Kiwi 64, or something far stranger?

Something else entirely, as it turns out. After all, that era featured not just two gaming titans battling it out, but three ? and it?s Sega and their crazy colour palette whose influence looms large over Lunistice.

Almost everything about Lunistice feels as if it could?ve come out alongside Nights into Dreams or an early 3D Sonic game, with lots of flashy environments and moving pieces. Not only that, everything has a slightly blurry, blocky look, which makes you feel like you?re watching the game play out on a CRT screen. Add in a fair number of collectibles to pick up in each level, and you can see why the game practically screams ?1990s.?

There?s one area, though, where Lunistice clearly sets itself apart from its influences: in how the game?s star, Hana the Tanuki, dashes and jumps her way through every level. There?s speed and fluidity to it that may echo Sonic, but more in the way Sonic plays in Sonic Colors or Sonic Frontiers. It?s been a long time since I played those ?90s 3D platformers on their original hardware, but I?m quite sure that none of them were capable of moving so seamlessly and non-clunkily as the way Hana does here (nor could the camera keep up quite as well as it does here).

And the best part? Lunistice is under $5. Given that its seven levels are highly replayable due to all those collectibles, plus a timer that gives you reason to strive for a S-tier run, and you can see why it?s easy to recommend this game.

Deck13 provided us with a Lunistice Nintendo Switch code for review purposes.