AFTERPAD

Review: Mikey Boots

Mikey Boots, the long-awaited followup to speed run platformers Mikey Shorts and Mikey Hooks, is available on the App Store. And, while developer Beavertap Games has made something different than the previous games in some key ways, Mikey Boots has somehow managed to take a relatively straightforward gameplay mechanic and turn it into an exceptional experience.

Mikey Boots takes a beautifully simple design and executes it perfectly, without ever losing focus on what makes the game fun. The titular Mikey (or a new female companion) have to traverse a series of levels covered in dangerous obstacles and swarming with enemies, and they have to do it using only jet-propulsion boots. These boots launch the character up and either to the right or left. That’s the only movement the player controls: move up-left, move up-right, or release to allow the character to fall. This is a rather limited move set compared to the more straightforward platforming of the previous Mikey games, but that limitation is the key to Mikey Boots’ challenge.

Mikey Boots gameplay screenshot 1

The levels are loaded with things that will kill you – enemies patrolling the ground, spikes lining walls and ceilings, bullets that fly across the screen towards you. Successfully dodging these obstacles and making it to the goal in one piece is an immensely satisfying experience. More ambitious players can try to complete a series of additional goals to truly master a level: collecting all of the coins scattered throughout the level, beating the level within a certain time limit, and finding the secret room containing a pair of golden shorts. Successfully obtaining every goal in every level is going to keep even the best gamer busy for quite some time.

Mikey Boots enters a different App Store ecosystem than it’s predecessors. Flappy Bird showed a world of developers that gamers aren’t afraid of a simple, fun, challenging game. In the weeks that followed, thousands of indie developers released their own games inspired by Flappy Bird. Mike Meade, half of Mikey series developer Beavertap Games, frequently joked about making a “Mikey Flaps” game. I’m not sure when Mikey Boots entered development, but its clear that Flappy Bird left it’s mark in one key aspect: the level of challenge.

Mikey Boots gameplay screenshot 2

Lets get one thing clear: Mikey Boots is not an easy game. This is especially true in contrast with the previous Mikey games, which tended to be far too easy (I tended to create my own challenge in the other games by trying to attempt all of the level goals at one time). In Mikey Boots, by the later levels, you’ll just be struggling to survive. With that said, the difficulty curve here is fair, with more than enough time to acclimate in the early levels before the challenge is ramped up.

One more thing. When talking about difficult games, it’s important to clarify exactly WHY the game is difficult. To put it simply, Mikey Boots is the best kind of difficult. The challenge always feels beatable. Failure never feels frustrating, or cheap, or beyond your control. It always feels like if you’d just timed your move a LITTLE BIT better, you’d have made it. And unlike Flappy Bird style games, the levels in Mikey Boots always have an end. So it isn’t just playing the same thing for a high score – you always have a clear goal in front of you, and there is a great deal of satisfaction in actually reaching that goal after failing repeatedly. Personally, I think this makes for a much more rewarding experience than the high-score-chasing of Flappy Bird.

Mikey Boots gameplay screenshot 3

Graphically, there isn’t much to say about Mikey Boots. The graphics were never really the strong suit of the Mikey games, with backgrounds that often feel inconsistent with foregrounds. But that doesn’t really matter much – the graphics get the job done. Far more important to a speed run game like this is the framerate, which is absolutely rock solid at 60fps. The sound design is solid, with memorable level-dependent chiptune music and minimal sound effects. It feels retro without feeling dated. Most importantly, it never gets wearying, even after the 30th time in a row attempting the same level.

While the controls are quite simple, Mikey Boots’ support for MFi controllers is particularly excellent. Movement can be handled any way you want – use the d-pad, analog stick, or shoulder buttons to send your character right or left; the choice is yours. This control scheme has the special benefit of playing to the strengths of every available controller – the PowerShell has a terrible d-pad but great shoulder buttons, the Stratus has terrible shoulder buttons but solid d-pad and analog sticks, the Moga has solid triggers and shoulder buttons but bad analog nubs and d-pads. Mikey Boots’ control flexibility allows you to get a truly great play experience with every single controller, which is something very few MFi compatible games can claim.

Mikey Boots customization screenshot

Rounding out the list of features, Mikey Boots also includes the series’ trademark smorgasbord of unlockables. The coins you collect aren’t just ornamental – you can use them to buy a variety of skins, clothes, haircuts, and boots for your characters. In addition to letting you customize your character, these accessories often make reference to other indie games or include inside jokes, which is something I always love to see.

Mikey Boots gameplay screenshot 4

Ultimately, Mikey Boots combines the Mikey series’ trademark speedrun gameplay with Flappy Bird’s willingness to challenge the player. Over the past week, three classic games were released with MFi controller support: Bioshock, Ridge Racer, and Back to Bed. I haven’t played all that much of any of them because of how difficult it’s been to STOP playing Mikey Boots. That’s the best recommendation I can give. Download this immediately.