The indie showcase at E3 is wrapped up, and the variety of games shown was large enough to bring hype to the indie scene. One of the titles shown off looks to be, if it can deliver on its premise, a promising title emerging from Kickstarter.
That game is Neko Ghost, Jump! Created by Victor Burgos, founder of Burgos Games, Neko Ghost, Jump! is a platformer starring a cute cat with supernatural powers. Said cat must stop an evil pirate who has invaded his world by switching perspectives and utilizing a ghost form, both features that change the gameplay drastically.
The perspective switching feature flips perspective from 2D to 3D, literally changing the entire level. At times, when blocked by a sheer wall, the player can switch to 3D perspective and simply walk or jump past it. Other times, when the platforming becomes to wide or difficult, players can switch back to 2D and leap across the same areas with ease. It's a feature straight out of Super Paper Mario, only here it focuses more on speeding through levels than stopping to take in the new look of the level. While many fans want to see Paper Mario return to its roots, the perspective swap is nevertheless one of the better ideas to come out of Super Paper Mario, and it's good to see it appear in another game.
The other transformation players have at their disposal is ghost mode. In this mode, the cat's physical body collapses and players control a ghost cat instead, complete with sword. The ghost cannot move too far away from the main body, and is more combat focused. This temporarily switches the game from a platformer into a hack and slash, and some puzzles can only be solved using the ghost. It's good to see transformations utilized well in games, similar to Super Smash Bros.'s transformation character mechanic completely altering a character's playstyle.
The overall game looks very cute, and the main character is customizable. Hopefully it manages to stand out, since the world, while cute, also looks fairly bland and may lose out in the visuals department. There's plenty of cute, fun competition coming out too, including new game Party Animals, so Neko Ghost, Jump! will have to stand on its gameplay.
Still, there's always room for another good platformer in the world. Some of the best games out there are platformers, so Burgos Games will have to put its all in if it wants Neko Ghost, Jump! to draw attention. Hopefully it joins the list of games coming soon to PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles, and beyond.
Neko Ghost, Jump! is in development for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.