Narita Boy

I don’t think I’ve ever referred to something vague as “charming,” yet that’s exactly what Narita Boy is. There’s certainly an underlying emotional narrative, but progressing through the game itself is so “out there” that I couldn’t help but want to uncover more of the Digital Kingdom and the life of The Creator. The 80s aesthetic makes the experience that much better, allowing me to revel in my own sense of nostalgia while playing.

Narita Boy is an extremely competent 2D platformer. The guys from Studio Koba have succeeded in the uneasy task of giving a unique personality to a video game whose basic mechanics could sometimes appear derivative.

This is a fantastic, epic adventure that, even with its shortcomings, delivers a fantastic experience.

Narita Boy is a surprise. Maybe it's not a masterpiece, but it's a case of being good in things that we don't expect to be there.

Narita Boy is a love letter to pop culture and visual references from the 80s. This indie game stands out thanks to its story, design and music, although problems with gameplay and controls prevent it from reaching its full potential.

Narita Boy’s retro style is its main selling point. It’s almost like a documentary on the early days of videogames when their creation were labors of love and dedication from passionate geeks in a garage, not industrial products focus-tested by mega corporations. Although it falls short of being a masterpiece, it’s got more than enough appeal to come recommended to those who have a soft spot for the period.

If only there was substance to match the undeniable style. [Issue#357, p.123]

A fun adventure filled with endearing stories, a great soundtrack, and gameplay that is hard, but never truly feels impossible. My hopes are high for a second game!

Narita Boy is a visually striking game with a unique story set within a computer program, where you play as the titular character seeking your identity while aiding NPCs and unlocking memories of the program's creator. Though the combat can feel unresponsive at times, leading to frustrating deaths, the game’s generous checkpoint system balances the difficulty without overwhelming the player. While it doesn't break new ground, the game’s combination of simple, well-executed mechanics and nostalgic aesthetic make it an enjoyable experience, especially on the Steam Deck.

In general, I had fun playing Narita Boy. It's a clear "nerdy" homage to the 70s/80s, with lots of action, combat and some "metroidvania" elements. It reminded me a lot of the first "Tron" movie. Don't expect a deep story. The narrative tries to abstract the real world into the digital one, but the technical jargon ends up being a bit heavy and makes the metaphors a little confusing. Despite the "retro" graphics, the animations are very fluid and satisfying, the setting is creative, and the adventure has its memorable moments. Good and cohesive soundtrack. What bothered me the most, besides the technical jargon, are the slightly sensitive controls (at times it's difficult to do what needs to be done without "dying"), and the focus/contrast of some elements of the scenarios that you need to interact with (they can be difficult to identify). I experienced some performance problems in one battle or another against the "bosses" that seem to be from the game engine (since my CPU and GPU weren't even 10% used). Anyway... if you like 2D action/combat platformers, you might like Narita Boy.

Visually very well done, music is great and combat feels good. But the story is like super boring, I started to just click the story out after 30 minutes. Then the rest of the game was really about running back and forth getting keys, killing some boss and the running again. I would say this would be a good game, if there wouldn't be like 5000 games which does the same with more content internally. Maybe the most frustrating thing (why I ended the game) was that the player needs to run back and forth too much, but only because there is a key in the back of the dungeon and then you need to go to start to get a new key and then run back to the end. I think the weird and bad and maybe cryotic story to bad level design just makes this too boring to finish.

25 euros thrown in the trash, 25 euros thrown in the trash 25 euros thrown in the trash