A look at Cublast HD, a simple but interesting platformer

A port of a formerly mobile-only game, the game combines basic puzzle solving with a minimalist style and precise gameplay. I played the new HD edition and have a few thoughts to share.


Note: Key provided by developer

Cublast [Official Site] is the kind of game that strips away many of the familiar elements of platformers such as power ups and special abilities. It, instead, focuses on simple and pure gameplay, with only the two directional buttons and the jump button really mattering. You control a ball and move around an abstract sort of world where the only things that really matter is getting to the goal safely or collecting the (mostly) optional blastpoints which serve to unlock harder stage sets.

It’s easy to be fooled that that’s all that there is to the game at first blush. The first few stages are easy and the game gently introduces new mechanics such as buttons to be pressed, blocks to be pushed and switches that change the orientation of the world. As the player progresses, things get less forgiving and jumps must be more precise and reaction times faster. I was engaged for most of the game and had fun collecting some of the more difficult optional things in many a stage. This gradual ramping up of difficulty and challenge is one of the stronger points of the game and maintains the game interesting with a few exceptions until the very end.

It is worth mentioning, however, that these exceptions were rather big stumbling blocks for my enjoyment. In one of the harder level sets, most of the stages featured blocks that would break after a few moments of contact with them. It means that decisions on where to move must be made fast and jumps must be precise as you hop from one block to the next. The problem is that the camera is too zoomed in by default, meaning that the more complex jumps were a matter of trial and error and memorization. As these harder stages require occasional backtracking and climbing via wall jumping it's important to figure out quickly how to proceed. Not knowing, with just a glance, which blocks you can touch and which you have to skip for the moment made it needlessly frustrating. Thankfully the final level sets in the game opt for equally challenging stages with mechanics that don’t require quite that degree of rote memorization.

There is a way to zoom out a little but it’s just that—a little. I often wished that I could zoom out more in order to see bigger chunks of the stage. Sure, it might have made some of the more out-of-the-way blastpoints too easy to find but it would have played up one of the greater strengths of Cublast: the light puzzle mechanics. Many stages require the flipping of gravity or the pushing of blocks and the order in which you do this can mean the difference between getting all the blastpoints in a perfect run or getting dissolved by spikes. Thinking on your feet is all well and good but being able to plan ahead some without resorting to memorization would go a long way in justifying some of the trickier blastpoints in the game.

While the graphics aren’t anything special, I dug the stylized effects and look of the game. With sharp contrasts between player, spikes and stage it presents all the information you need to make split-second decisions in an easy to comprehend manner. Some of the hidden extras you can find in stages allow you to change up how the game looks, changing up the colors to something else you might prefer.



Cublast comes with a few modes other than singleplayer. Both coop and versus work rather well though, from what I could see, seem to be limited to local players only. The most interesting extra, however, is the level designer. It allows players to easily construct their own stages and to upload them for others to play. Playing stages others have made is easy and takes no time at all and there are handy filters to sort by difficulty and rating. So even if you blast through the several dozen stages already in game, there’s the potential for more fun from the community.

At its best, Cublast is a zen-like experience, where rapid movements, precise jumps and interesting stages all keep the player focused and interested. It’s a game I can recommend with some reservations. Despite its shortcomings, any who are looking for an uncomplicated platformer to challenge them can find great fun here. Collecting all the blastpoints will certainly push your skills and imagination and require very precise jumps and landings. I certainly don't have the patience to hone my skills to that degree, but I recognize that a lot of people relish that kind of challenge. With things like leaderboards and instant replays of all players, you can easily compare what the best strategies are for stages and adapt accordingly. This isn’t a standout title by any means, but it’s a solid game that shows that complex controls aren’t necessary for an enjoyable experience. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.