Gravity Circuit

Spring 2024

Indie Special

Objectives Completed: Main + 1 optional

Contractor: Frazzle

Favorite Boss Fight: Nega

Favorite Boss Design: Medley

Least Favorite Boss: Crash

Score: 9/10

Gravity Circuit is a good game. I really enjoy platformers to begin with but outside of Mega Man 2, I haven’t actually played any other Mega Man kind of game. I remember attempting to play Mega Man Zero as a kid on GBA but never could get past the introductory level. Still, I would say I am a fan of this type of game. So, in rolls the Indie Special picks and I knew it had to be this one. (An aside: a friend had recommended this to me a few months ago and I completely forgot about it.)

The movement in this game is excellent. I was very bad at it during the first player-selected level. I took well over an hour to complete Ore Mines and was begging for a double jump. And then I got a double jump. And then I got an air dash. And then I was set for the rest of the game. As I got more and more movement tech I started clearing levels more quickly. The grappling hook was really really cool once I got used to it.

Level Order (and some basic thoughts):

Ore Mines- First level, so it was very hard because I didn’t have any power-ups; it taught me to get good at the hookshot. This boss frustrated me a lot since I was still getting used to things.

Warehouse Area- I adore the design where you have multiple paths to go through and loop back to a starting area. May have been one of my favorite levels because of this.

Highway- Loved the platforming on the skateboard kinda parts where you had to time your jumps with the bullets

Steelworks- I don’t have many thoughts on this one. The laser mechanic was a good time. I liked the boss, too, and its implementation of the mechanic.

Power Plant- I really enjoyed this level gimmick with the electric platforms if charged by another attack. Made for a fun element of awareness. Same with the boss.

Scrapyard- Wasn’t super into the goop mechanic, but I do enjoy the concept of a scrapyard being like a robo-zombie level. Loved throwing enemies as this boss.

Mountains- May be my favorite level in terms of how pretty it is. I was mulling over the concept of the “ice stage” while playing this one and I concluded that I generally quite enjoy ice stages.

City Center- Super cute level, I loved all the little details. The spike surface mechanic reminded me of the hotel level in Celeste. Medley is a cutie, too~

Once I was over the growing pains and got the set-up I wanted, my hiccups mainly came through the last few bosses. I really struggled with the boss rush (Circuit Crystal) and had to go back to get the last powerups I had missed. Once I had that (and the emergency healing power up), it wasn’t too bad. The final boss was pretty tricky, too. I struggled most with phase 4 (if you include Kernel as “phase 1”). The “do it again but double output and be better” type of phase is a boss design I do very much appreciate since it really gives you a “learning phase” and a “testing phase”. I struggled the most with that phase and really felt like in the end I had learned the boss very well.

Which gets into the best part of this game- the levels and bosses are designed in an excellent way. I noticed repeatedly how the levels were designed to teach you a mechanic and then add to that mechanic, maybe teach a new mechanic on top of that, and then just throw a satisfying obstacle course at you to bring all you’ve learned together.

The mechanics and overall art style/aesthetic of this game is what gave it such a high score for me but the reason it’s not quite a 10/10 is mainly due to its story and its soundtrack.

The story was fine. I wasn’t incredibly invested but it wasn’t a bad story. I also don’t really think I needed this game to have a very involved story, anyway, hence why my score is still so high. The soundtrack, similarly, is fine. I think it exuded the kinda 80s tech vibe it was going for quite well but there is not any track that really sticks out to me. In fact, unfortunately, there’s not a single track I found I remembered outside of playing. Which is a downside for me, who constantly has game soundtracks playing in my head. So that pulled it down a point but the fact that those two things, which are usually pretty important details in a game for me, didn’t severely impact my overall enjoyment of a game speaks to how amazingly this game felt to play.

Overall, super good game! I’ve already recommended it to a friend I know will love it. I completed the optional challenge of finding all the bots but none of the other ones. Maybe I’ll go back and get all the optional challenges but I don’t know, I’m not that much of a Gamer.

Final thoughts:

I got this classic song stuck in my head while playing some of the final bosses. Here it is in English, too. Gave me a nice trip down memory lane listening to these while writing my review.