Review: Whipseey and the Lost Atlas

A young boy called Alex (no, not Adonis, from our team), was reading his favorite book when, all of a sudden, he’s magically pulled inside of the story, where he turns into a fluffy pink creature… No, not Kirby. Not even Jigglypuff. And definitely not Piglet. He becomes Whipseey! And with his trustworthy whip, he will save the kingdom from an evil sage!

Developed by Daniel Ramirez and published by Blowfish Studios, Whipseey and the Lost Atlas is an old school action platformer that resembles games from the 8 and 16-bits era. Cute, delightful and challenging, it’s a game that players of all ages will enjoy. Jump, glide, whip your enemies and enjoy your adventure in this colorful and magical world!

What do you do? In Whipseey and the Lost Atlas, you will advance stage after stage eliminating enemies until you reach the boss of the level. A very straightforward game, like the old-school classics it takes inspiration from.

• Visuals: Do you like old-school graphics? Great! You don’t? No problem, because after playing Whipseey, now you will! This colorful and charming world will enchant everyone who lays eyes upon this game. It may look like a silly comment, but the cuteness in this title is overwhelming. Your character, your enemies, the scenarios, animations… the aesthetic of the games was created aiming for young players, that’s for sure! And it’s so adorable that I felt like playing a game from my childhood when my only concern was doing the homework, watching cartoons and playing games. Such a time trip!
• Music and sounds: Drinking from the same fountain of the visuals (this dev team was really inspired for this title!), the audio department in this game is also delightful! With sweet and lovable songs and sound effects, as cuddly as the character, you can put your toddler to sleep while playing this game and enjoy the adventure with a big smile on your face.
• Easy gameplay: The gameplay in Whipseey follows a child-friendly approach too. The easy to learn gameplay mechanics are inviting for players of all ages. Although there aren’t tutorials in this game, you will quickly understand its mechanics of jumping (with A), whipping (with X), swing with your whip (using your whip in specific locations) and gliding (repeatedly pressing A after jumping). To dispatch your enemies, you can jump on their heads (what will make them flip upside-down) or use your whip to eliminate them. And by eliminating them, there’s no violence at all on it: enemies will only make a “poof” and disappear. Again, perfect for the younger audience.

• Gliding or… flying? Something I’m not sure if it’s a bug or a secret which I discovered totally by accident is that if you keep pressing your triggers, sometimes you will change your glide for a flight. For real! Instead of gliding, when you repeatedly press the jump button, Whipseey will take off. And this, my friends, become extremely useful for traversing each stage without concerns. It may become useful for speedrunning the game.
• Shallow levels: While venturing through Whipseey 5 levels (and God knows how many stages), I constantly had the impression there were some secrets to discover. Maybe it’s because of the level design combined with my gaming experience. But no, not even a single secret room. With few exceptions (like the train stage…you will know when you get there), the stages are of plain sailing. And it feels like such a missed opportunity.

• Gameplay issues: As simple as it may look, the gameplay of Whipseey is quite challenging! But not for the right reasons: there are some facets that don’t work properly. Like your jumps, that aren’t the most precise in the gaming world: they make it very challenging – not to say annoying – to succeed in long platform sequences or on platforms where there are many enemies. Or simply when trying to land over an enemy’s head, something Mario has been doing quite well since the late ’80s. Another trait of the gameplay that isn’t very fair is the spikes and God, how I hate those spikes. I fall victim to them in almost every stage they are available. The problem seems to be with the collision detection: sometimes I had the impression that I died before touching them. Especially on stages underwater. Some features that needed more polishing for a better overall experience
• Short adventure: With only five levels, Whipseey and the Lost Atlas is a very short game. The more skilled players may finish this adventure in less than an hour. Others not so skilled (me included) may take a little longer. This is a game you feel sorry when getting to its end because you can’t get enough of it. Let’s hope a sequence is on the works.