Sideway: New York

Sideway: New York may not be an epic platformer, but it is a great deal of fun and certainly worth the $10 price point. While it may not introduce innovative gameplay, the stylish presentation and imaginative artwork makes it one of those games that gamers will pick up just to show friends how cool a game can be.

Sideway: New York is a charming side-scrolling platformer.

Its unique approach to such a saturated genre should be celebrated, and while it's not the perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, it certainly novel. And not novel in a "this game is unique, but garbage" sort of way. No, friends -- quite the opposite.

Sideway: New York is packed with lavish details that make it as fun to look at as it is to play.

Sideway: New York could have been something really cool, with some fresh ideas and a cool setting. But the developers didn't tap the potential of the game. The controls are tricky to handle, the co-op mode is a no-go and the story is pretty weird. On the other hand, there are some pretty cool things like the bossfights, the different points of view and the cool spray and grafitti setting.

Sadly, once the conceptual veneer peels away, you'll be left only with hollow rattle of an empty aerosol can.

It's not a horrible game by any means, but it's certainly not a fully realized idea based on what's been shown in this first of three titles.

Definitely worth your money. The camera shifting while wrapping around buildings is awesome, worth the price of admission alone. I'm a huge fan of retro platformers, and Sideway's definitely got that vibe, with shades of metroidvania and zelda sprinkled in there. I loved powering up and revisiting levels to find every little nook and cranny.

Sideway: NY is the kind of game that is mixing 2D with 3D elements. The story is rather simple, like many platformers, in that you're girlfiend got kidnapped and you have to go save her. The core of the game comes from making your way through the buildings and scenery by moving along the walls of the buildings like graffiti. This works very well, and is indeed unique. The developers also used this mechanic to create many hidden or secret areas that you can explore and hunt down for "tags", "upgrades", and other goodies. The game has a nice smooth dificulty curve, in that around each level you will probably earn a new ability, and the levels are designed to challenge you to use all the abilities you have gained so far, as well as, having you replay some levels in order to get all the unlockables that you might have missed. The bosses themselves are nothing too hard, except for the last ones, and the designers made them unique and colorful to not get stale or just look like larger enemies. The audio tracks were also very fitting and worked well to compliment the overall style and game. The only downside is I think I only heard like 2-3 songs throughout the entire game. Sometimes they just looped, other times I had pure silence throughout the levels. For a $10 PSN title, this was a well deserved playthrough. Yes, the game was kind of short. I think I 100% it around 5 hours. The trophies are also not very hard, and since it's a PSN title there really were only like 12 or less. Regardless, if you want a break from all the AAA titles, or love quirky platformers, I say give it a shot. It's only $10, has a unique style and gameplay mechanic, funky sound, and has co-op. Anyway, a solid 7.5 from me, though I guess I would round it to an 8.

I first played this game at Gamescon and really appreciated it. Sideway is a new genre of 2D platformer. I bought it recently and went through the game in about 4 to 6 hours. Worth the 10 bucks I spent on.

Occasionally fun and creative. However, most of it will be a forgettable experience.

This lackluster 2d platformer makes you strain your eyes into the buildings perspective. An Urban street style, but nothing I haven't done before. Save your money for Mario Galaxy 2 or Paper Mario instead.