Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island

Fans of the 3D platforming genre should definitely pick up Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island. Heck, even gamers who aren't obsessed with the genre should give it a shot. Skylar & Plux is accessible to a whole range of gamers, and while the game's biggest shortcoming is its length, there are still plenty of features that can make your playthrough worthwhile.

Skylar & Plux does an exceptional job at giving us a beautiful 3D platformer with truly fun platforming sections, delightful puzzling elements and one-liners that had me laughing. The problem with the game is that it needs a bit more polish. While taking good inspiration from games like Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank, it has taken on-board some pre-used traits that have become too much of a signature to those games. I feel more work on Skylar and Plux’s movement and character design would be a good start to reaching its own identity going further. This could be the start of a beautiful new p...

While Yooka-Laylee was a bright, colorful and mildly disappointing spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie, Skylar and Plux: Adventure of Clover Island feels a like a descendant of Crash Bandicoot. Running, spinning and jumping across a cheerful tropical island, Skylar and Plux has all the hallmarks of a family friendly platformer, complete with cartoonish graphics and an annoying sidekick.

It seems like the 3D platformer revival is going to be big in 2017. After the pretty decent Yooka-Laylee and the upcoming releases of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Super Mario Odyssey – it seems like what’s old is new again. And as a fan of classic N64 platformers such as Conkers Bad Fur Day and Super Mario 64, I’m definitely excited about this revival! That’s why I jumped at the chance to give Grip Digital’s latest game, Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island, a playthrough. Does it capture that awesome feeling you get when you’re playing a good 3D platformer? Let’s take a look.

3D buddy platformers seem to be making a resurgence lately. Skylar & Plux may not be as famous as Yooka-Laylee but they seem like capable adventurers so let's see if their journey is one worth taking.

Skylar & Plux: Adventure On Clover Island is a 3D platformer in the vein of classics such as Banjo Kazooie, Super Mario 64, or Spyro. The game is part of what appears to be a small resurgence of the 3D platforming genre, a resurgence that I believe will one day be able to recapture the wonder and amazement of platformers of old. One day, but not today.

Altogether, Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island is a short, solid and (I’m not afraid of this word) cute game. It is fun while it lasts and will provide players with enjoyable 3D platformer gameplay, nice level design, colorful environment and quirky characters. It is obvious that Right Nice Games really tried to create comfortable little adventure that players will fondly remember. Whether it is worth $15 is up for you to decide.

Even if I wanted to love Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island, I would be lying to myself and my dog. I expected more from Right Nice Games’ 3D platformer as I’ve began to love this genre, but it seems that my standards are getting higher and higher when it comes to these types of games now.