Day and night. White and black. Light and darkness. These all complement each other, and in a nutshell, that’s also what Light Fantastik is about. Well, that and some fast-paced platforming on a time limit. You won’t get far without using your reflection though, and as one might expect, its controls are… inverted.
Bouncing around in a 2D platformer, climbing higher and higher as you go along, with no hazards to speak of – hardly the most demanding task, right? Right, but in this game, you’ll often have to rely on a mirrored version, which is where things can (and likely will) get rather tricky. See, while the white cube’s area is littered with items that give you extra time, the black cube is able to jump much higher.
Switching between the two is done by briefly touching the right (or left, depending on who you’re controlling) wall. It’s simple and it works, but don’t forget that your brain will have to adapt to a modified control scheme every time you go from black to white and vice versa. Early on, recovering from a failed jump is easy and not really time-consuming, but it’s not long before every second becomes vital, every misstep fatal.
Decide your way up in Light side and climb it at inverted side!
Ninety seconds may sound like a lot, and it is… until you have to go through teleporters, adjusting to pressing left instead of right at a moment’s notice. Or how about having to switch between the cubes in mid-air? Yup. Suffice it to say, your ability to adapt to split-second changes will certainly be challenged in this minimalistic Global Game Jam 2014 creation. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though.
In fact, I’d say unless you downright hate this particular genre, chances are you’ll find Light Fantastik to be a rather enjoyable platformer; even if you don’t make it to the top. Happy climbing!
