AFTERPAD

Review: Wind-Up Knight 2

A platforming masterpiece

2D platformers probably reached their heyday about 20 years ago. In the age of 8-bit, 16-bit, even through the 32-big graphics generations, success in the console race depended on having a sidescroller with a red plumber, blue hedgehog, or some other platform-hopping mascot.

The era of the mascot-based platformer has passed. Gamers today are seemingly more interested in systems which have the latest military or sci-fi shooter. However, even though they may no longer be the system sellers they once were, platformers are still beloved by a large number of fans. For them, iOS has seen a bit of a resurgence of these games. These new-generation platformers have varying degrees of polish and quality, and often incorporate more modern elements of game design to reflect changing tastes.

Wind-Up Knight 2 enters the market as the latest of this new-breed of side-scrolling platformer. I’m happy to report that it isn’t merely a good mobile game, or a good homage to the classic games of the past. No, Wind-Up Knight 2 is a truly classic platforming game, period.

windup knight beanstalk level coin
Time your jumps and collect the coins

At its core, the gameplay of Wind-Up Knight 2 is quite simple. That’s good – platforming games, as a genre, are defined by the cleverness with which they challenge the players using the relatively small set of moves they’re familiar with.

In this game, you control an auto-running character (the wind-up knight) who has to travel across the beginning of the stage to the end of the stage, collecting coins, dodging traps, and attacking enemies along the way.

Your subset of moves is relatively simple. You can double-jump over chasms, roll under traps, shield your head from falling debris, and swing your sword against enemies. It’s the care that Wind-Up Knight 2 shows in how it builds levels to test your ability to use these limited moves that truly shows what a great game it is.

windup knight traps dodge
Time your shield carefully to deflect traps

The arrangement of obstacles and traps in this game are clever. Failing to dodge an obstacle or trap never feels cheap – deaths always feel avoidable, and that fairness encourages you to attempt it again. You’re graded based on how well you complete each level, with greater awards given for higher grades. Getting an ’S’ ranking in a level requires collecting everything without dying. Not an easy task, but a fun one to attempt.

Each level has a large number of coins dispersed throughout it. Extra points are awarded for collecting all of these coins. You can use these coins in the shop to unlock additional costumes, weapons, and abilities. None of these are essential, but they add a great motivation to replay the levels you’ve already beaten.

enemy windup knight
Traps aren’t the only threats to worry about

The level of content in this game is truly staggering. There are tons of levels available in the regular game, and each of those levels include multiple challenge goals – collect diamonds, avoid killing any enemies, that sort of thing – in addition to the basic goals of beating the level and collecting the coins. Each level has 3 of these bonus goals.

windup knight graphics
The graphics and art style are truly amazing

The graphics of Wind-Up Knight 2 are absolutely gorgeous, taking the 2.5D art style established by it’s predecessor and cranking up the quality and artistic beauty to new heights. Lighting effects are beautiful, and tied to the environment and time of day. All of this happens at a buttery-smooth 60 fps.

Controller support is very well implemented here. Both Standard and Extended layout controllers are fully support. Menus can be controlled completely without touching the screen, making this a great hands-free experience. Buttons are well mapped and responsive.

wind-up knight wall ride
Slide down walls and collect coins

Ultimately, Wind-Up Knight 2 manages to hit all the right notes. It enters an established genre – side-scrolling platformer – and builds upon the ideas and designs of the top games, while carving out a unique identity of its own. And it manages to do it with a rock-solid foundation and beautiful presentation.

Wind-Up Knight 2 is available as a free trial, with an in-app purchase to unlock all of the levels and add a little extra content. Some additional content packs are available to purchase, but are unnecessary to the game. There are no ads, spam, timers, or anything like that.

Fans of platforming games should download Wind-Up Knight 2 immediately.