Review | Super Sunny Island

LifeisXbox’s Super Sunny Island review | So today, we will take a deeper dive into this little arcade platformer named: Super Sunny Island! Here you will do your best to defeat enemies, collect your keys, and defeat bosses! Did I mention yet that you will do all of that as a penguin warrior?! But can this little penguin made by Juliano from lightUP steal your heart? Of course, but is it worth your time? So let’s go over that together, shall we?

We played Super Sunny Island for about 5 hours on PC. This game is currently only available on Steam.

What we liked!

• General Gameplay | The idea that Super Sunny Island is a platformer is evident in the gameplay. But still, it felt different than I expected. I was expecting a fully retrofit gaming experience where I had to hop from platform to platform, but that wasn’t entirely the case. Instead, it was more of a precision jumping/arcade mix that left me pleasantly surprised.
• Music | When it comes down to arcade vibes, lightUP didn’t spare any effort here! You shall and will be sucked in the magical wonderland of arcade games. And to be fair, the music can get a bit tedious if you leave it at full volume. But if you adjust it to 70%, it will be a breeze and will help you focus and play through the game with pleasure!
• Cute idea | The idea of a penguin warrior is cute AF! And no one will deny that, I am sure. And it doesn’t stay with a cute idea! It is actually executed quite well! Since you swim a fair bit to pick up water. So overall, a cute idea that will make most of the younger players among us very happy!
• Graphics | An arcade game that aims for pixel art won’t be a 4K presentation. But it sure must look like it was ripped off an old arcade module. And to my delight, it does indeed look like that. So enormous cudos to lightUP for accomplishing that!

Somewhere between

• Simple controls | What I love about a game is when the controls are right and simple enough to understand (if you mash all the keys on your controller). The game controls by themselves are so simple that you don’t even get a tutorial. But that is something for later. When you want to perform an action, it just works. So it isn’t bad! I just wish it would feel better to use inside the level select screen. It just feels weird to have in-game controls here. So it could be a lot better, though? The gamepad is great, but the mouse and keyboard leave something to be desired.
• Screen options | This might be a minor problem for most players, but I found it quite disappointing that the game does not scale with bigger screens at all. You have to put the game in a windowed option if you want to enjoy some decent quality visuals. There is not an adaptation for bigger screens. If you toggle on full-screen mode, then you will be met with a blurry mess. Based on the genre, I can forgive it; but I am sure that this will be a deal-breaker to some players.
• Level completion | As for level completion, the levels are completed by collecting 3 keys. Without these keys, you won’t open the chest. So, you won’t get the token. Meaning: if you can’t make one jump, the rest of the level time is rendered useless. And you will have to replay this level and figure out a way to make that specific jump. Of course, if you don’t like the level, you can skip it and complete others, but that isn’t a way that I tend to enjoy.

What we disliked

• Explanation | What I found most annoying about Super Sunny Island was that we are expected to know what each powerup does. Yes, the game has amazing and straightforward controls, but that doesn’t mean that every player will have the patience to test each powerup. And then guess what it does base on the in-game presentation of them. Or know how to long jump over objects. A great tutorial or hint system would be a great fix to this.

How long to beat the story | 4 hours
How long to unlock all achievements | 7 hours
Similar to | Super Mario (arcade), Donkey Kong (arcade)

CONCLUSION

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