Fast and Furrious
I have never actually played the original Freedom Planet game; but after spending some time with its sequel; I can see that these games are lovingly crafted as a sort of homage to Sega and their Genesis heyday. Much like the Sonic games from those days, I wasn’t really into the plot of Freedom Planet 2. What I can tell you is that the story picks up some time after the original games ending and there is a brand-new villain who is causing a ruckus; so, the heroes have to band together in order to stop them. The characters are all furry animals so the comparison to Sonic the Hedgehog is almost immediate. Not to mention the graphic style and speed make the game feel like it could be a spin-off title.
MSRP: $24.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $24.99
I’m not a huge fan of the nostalgia for pixel graphics; I lived thru that era and we didn’t have a choice back then. But even I think that Freedom Planet 2 looks and sounds fantastic. The pixel art style for graphics is colorful and crisp and has a level of detail that we didn’t have back in the day. Animations are fluid for bad guys as well as the team of heroes, each with gorgeous designs and some pops of color. Much like those old Sonic games on the Genesis; Freedom Planet 2 not only looks great but has a banging soundtrack. This is pure 32-bit nostalgia, and it’s served up gloriously for fans. I was even a fan of the voice work for the most part. Merging the graphics and aesthetics from yesteryear with full voiceovers is always cool to see.
Speaking of Sega’s fast hedgehog, Freedom Planet is more than just the visual aesthetic from the Sonic games in fact FP2 moves just about as swiftly. Players will find ramps, loops, boosters and more on almost every level, a clear homage to the blue blur. Where the gameplay differs is when it comes to combat, whereas Sonic just kind of spin jumps on enemies; in FP2 players will have ranged attacks, dash moves and a suite of combat moves. Adding this level of variety to its combat, makes each battle more difficult than the combat players would usually see in these games. Because the players move so fast, it makes combat feel imprecise and floaty. This makes all of the impressive looking boss fights ridiculously frustrating, luckily Freedom Planet 2 has difficulty settings, which I am increasingly grateful for in my old age.
Having never played the original, I can say that I enjoyed Freedom Planet 2 even if the combat annoyed me at times. The Sonic like speedy traversal of each level was a joy to complete, the real issues only crept up when combat was needed. While it was nice to have some advanced moves, given how fast FP2 plays; the combat kind of felt out of place. Floaty combat with the high speed makes the boss battles frustrating; If people can get around that, they will find that Freedom Planet 2 is a peek into Sega’s heyday, with a cheesy story and heroes that ‘gotta go fast’ if you are in the need for some Genesis vibes, take a trip to Freedom Planet 2.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
