LOVE (PC) Review

Arrow keys, jump button, and of you go! LOVE is so simple that it makes Super Mario Bros. look like Hollow Knight in comparison - a conscious decision that, of course, makes this extremely approachable to those who prefer a more minimalist approach to controls. Even better? Everything works as intended.

Those used to game characters gaining momentum before running at full speed will need a minute or two to get accustomed to the way this pixely sprite moves, though, as it only has two speeds: on and off. With than being said, there's nothing wrong with the controls. Splendid news for a title whose level design will easily munch away all of your 100 lives, despite the available stages being very short - both in number and size.

LOVE has you running with a small stick figure, and doing precision jumps on platforms, while at the same time trying to avoid all sorts of lethal traps, from spikes and lakes of acid, to... well, spikes, spikes, and more spikes. Just kidding, of course. This never becomes VVVVVV, but the main reason of death is definitely you touching something small and sharp. Luckily, or sadly for those who love this type of punishing platformers, LOVE never really feels impossible.

This is actually one of the easiest of its kind, due to a level design that's far less sadistic, and because of a simple, yet nifty respawn mechanic, which lets you create a checkpoint with the push of a button... by paying the price of one life of course, turning this ability into a tactical decision; a very important one if you want to improve your score, which of course counts far more than just that how often you've used that. In that regard, LOVE is more about getting the best possible score, rather than simply reaching the end.

The same applies from the rest of the modes, apart from the standard, "100 lives and 16 levels" mode, there's 'Yolo,' where you get one live, a Time Trial where you race for the best time, and a remix mode which creates a nice cocktail of levels of various difficulty. The greatest thing you can do in here, however, is to create your custom level to torture yourself... or others - especially since the levels on offer aren't really that good to begin with. Bad? Far from it. It just that most of them are usually a bit too long for this type of gameplay, resulting in stages that are easy to complete, and thus, kind of boring to run through, with just one or two tricky spots, where you'll either "save" before attempting to brave them, or simply risk doing so without leaving a respawn point.

The biggest problem with LOVE, however, is that what few it offers just isn't enough, especially when put side to side with its similar kin, like the aforementioned VVVVVV, which kept things simple, yet not as simple as this one. Fans of the genre will surely have fun with it, but only as long as they don't expect it to replace their favourite masochistic pastime anytime soon.