Game Reviews

Beyond Ynth

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Beyond Ynth

For reasons unknown, Beyond Ynth has indulged in the Gok Wan treatment.

Beyond Ynth has a more professional feel than its quirky predecessor. Encountering ladybird Kribl this time around feels like meeting a former hippy who's now wearing a suit and tie.

The fresh take on the series' visuals doesn't mean Beyond Ynth is awash with new gameplay, however. While there are tweaks here and there, this is essentially a re-imagining of the original.

Happening all over again

The aim is to get Kribl from one side of the screen to the other, navigating maze-like shapes that stand in his path in the process.

Kribl is able to walk left or right, jump, and push said shapes over by barging into their corners, the idea being to tip the squares and rectangles within which he wanders 90-degrees at a time.

There are a number of challenges along the way. The maze-like layouts that inhabit the shapes themselves take some traversing, particularly since Kribl can only jump short distances.

Positioning yourself so you can reach the exit is a constant theme. It's easy to find yourself stranded at the bottom of the shape in question.

Gravity games

Hazards aplenty also fall from the sky. Shape-tipping causes everything from acorns to balls of lava to drop to the floor like Newton's apple - the question is how to make progress without running the risk of getting squashed flat if you tip and turn in the wrong direction.

The main update in Beyond Ynth, however, comes in the form of new collectables. With the plot pitching your plight as a fight against a series of spiders who have stolen the light from the Kingdom, picking up diamonds that are dotted around each stage is - though not a prerequisite for progress – a secondary aim.

Spotting said diamonds is straightforward, but actually collecting them is not so easy. Most are hidden behind walls or placed in perilous locations. What's more, picking up the first sets off a clock: additional jewels have to be scooped up before it hits zero, causing you to take the kind of risks you might not otherwise.

Above and beyond

This causes the game to swing wildly from ridiculously easy to impossibly difficult with alarming frequency. Beyond Ynth suffers – like its predecessor – from an inability to truly find its rhythm.

At times, it's a tame platformer with little more required than going through the motions by tipping shapes endlessly left or right. At others, it switches without warning to the kind of puzzler that can have you stumped for hours.

There's nothing wrong with either mode, of course, but as a package Beyond Ynth would stand up better if the experience was more consistent. As things stand, Beyond Ynth is basically a flashier, wider-reaching rerun of the original.

Beyond Ynth

A refined take on the original, Beyond Ynth brings extra knobs and bobs that take the existing formula and make it trickier, but this isn't a true step forward
Score
Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.