[Review] Cosmonauta – Nintendo Switch

Cosmonauta
Nintendo Switch

Developed By : QUByte Interactive
Published By : QUByte Interactive
Category : Puzzle, Platformer, Adventure
Release Date : Feb 11, 2020

With a market as flooded as this one, it’s extremely difficult to have a game that’s entirely original. So if you’re expecting a title such as Cosmonauta on the Nintendo Switch to be that fresh new experience, lower that bar a little bit. This short and sweet platformer will bring you over 60 levels to test your prowess with the jumps.

Welcome to space where things have gone slightly wrong. Our main character’s ship is suffering from a wonky navigation system. At least, that’s according to the game’s description because this is never really conveyed in the game itself. Nevertheless, you’ll need to guide our weary man back home through…a series of doors scattered across space in treacherous areas. I swear it makes sense…somewhere.

The game itself is just made up of the 60+ levels. You’ll start on one end, and there’s a door you need to reach that’s further away from you. Between you and the door are a variety of obstacles you’ll need to get over, under, or through if you want to make your way back home. Your character can only move at one speed and perform jumps, but these basic skills are all you’ll need.

Initially, you’ll come across the simplest obstacles like fields of spikes, some gaps to jump, and even elevator platforms that will carry you vertically or laterally. There will be some projectiles you’ll have to deal with like rocks, green energy blasts, and even homing rockets. Naturally, amid all of this chaos you’ll need to deal with mixing in some basic platforming jumps as well.

Eventually things will actually start to get chaotic as more advanced scenarios get introduced. You’ll see gravity fields that will force you in a specific direction, some of which you’ll need to still guide yourself around additional objects. The machines that shoot the rocks, green energy, and rockets will be lined up forcing you to find the perfect rhythm to get through. Some levels will have jetpacks to throw you some additonal curveballs.

You can only take a single hit, but you won’t need to run every level perfectly. Most that require you to get around multiple obstacles will have checkpoints between each one. Granted, this isn’t really shown to you in any way, so it’s a happy discovery when you die and realize you only have to go back to the last ledge you were on instead of all the way to the start.

The jumping itself can be a bit tough to get used to. Considering you’re in space, it’s understandable that the jumps are a bit floaty, which can make some sections pretty tricky. It is a pressured jump though, so if you press the button a little lighter you won’t go up as high. So if you find yourself with spikes over your head, mind your jumps.

One thing I noticed is that jump seemed to “bank” itself if you just walked off a ledge instead of jumping, meaning you could fall a small distance and then jump to get through some patches. I’m not sure if this was intentional, or a small and weird bug in the game, but it can be used a bit to your advantage if needed.

While Cosmonauta isn’t anything spectacular to write home about, it’s still a pretty fun game. I found the platforming challenges to be a lot of fun and they were presented at a pretty steady pace as far as difficulty is concerned. The first few levels are pretty short as you learn the ropes and the obstacles you’ll encounter, so I was a little worried they would all be so short and the game would be a quick blast, but they do get a bit longer as you get further into them.

Even so, it’s still on the short side but if you’re a fan of platforming that won’t matter. For only a buck, you couldn’t ask for a better way to spend your money. It will definitely keep you busy and help kill some time, and the levels are actually fun enough to dip back into after you’re done. Help this poor spaceman make his way home, only you can save his day!