Although, the games real challenge is not based on the difficulty, Poncho’s challenge comes in simple reflexes, platforming and exploration , with scenarios that are puzzles in themselves. There are many secret corners and hidden places seemingly unattainable by the platforms. Poncho rewards curiosity and leaving you free to test, experiment and discover, and hardly tells you anything.
L1 to jump back plane and R1 to go to the front. These are the controls selected for the version of PlayStation 4, and the choice could not be more unfortunate, because it is not intuitive and comfortable. In addition, character movement is performed by the analog stick and can not be changed to the d-pad , which seems more suited to the genre and accuracy requirements, wish there was controls options to change this. The desktop version is much more advisable in this respect, with the jump located on the space bar and jump between planes on the arrow buttons forward and backward.
Poncho looks beautiful. The pixelated old school graphics and its attention to detail is splendid. But, it’s repetitive , there are 8 worlds virtually identical presenting a forest environment, only the 9th world looks different. As for the soundtrack, it’s a real treat, sympathetic and lively melodies with electronic touches , so perfectly accompanies the theme of the title. Sound effects of the robots are well done too.
In short, it is a lovely old-school platformer, not only for its beauty but also for the amount of content, that offers interesting challenges, comes with it’s play mechanics. The duration is about 8-10 hours, depending on the skill and desire to get that %100 completion. It also has two different outcomes, but simply load game after the credits to return the decision point to see the other ending. Unless you want to play the whole game from start.
Final Thoughts
We recommend Poncho to all that are not one of those who get dizzy with 3D effect and other visual fancy stuff, since the parallax effect and the movement of the layers can cause nausea and dizziness in some people. Otherwise, the team Delve Interactive has started well and Poncho has fair amount of content and challenges to offer, yet it also has certain conditions, but with it’s price tag definitely deserves a chance.
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