Lost Journey - Probably worth buying a map for

Lost Journey is a smart platformer with a few rough edges. It's not super challenging, and won't leave you scratching your head until you break the skin and start to flake off your skull.

But it's entertaining, in a sweet, lightweight sort of way, and it has some neat ideas that mean you're not walking over ground you'll have discovered years ago.

It's not without its problems, namely a slightly esoteric save system, but if you're looking for a cheap premium experience to waste a few hours on, you could do a lot worse.

So what are these new ideas?

The game tells the story of a young girl. You're making your way through a series of bite-sized levels, collecting fragments of memories and trying to avoid spikes.

You control the girl with four buttons. Two move you around, another lets you jump, and a fourth lets you flip into a negative version of the level that sees you standing on the other side of platforms.

You use this mechanic to solve simple puzzles, essentially bypassing obstacles by walking on the other side of them.

But it uses this core idea in some pretty clever ways. Crates, for example, can be stood on in the normal version of the world, but flip it over and you can stand inside them. The ability to move them around opens up new avenues for exploration.

Various blocks can't be flipped through until you've collected the right power up, and you do need to put at least a modicum of thought into each of the challenges you're faced with.

There's a neat casual feel to proceedings, but with none of the negative connotations that term might conjure up in your mind.

Everything is fair, everything is well put together, and there are rarely are frustrating difficulty spikes blocking your path.

You did mention some problems though

I did. Things get a little samey after a bit, and while the game does look nice, there are some rough edges in the graphics that grate a little.

The jumping mechanic is just a little on the flighty side as well, which can end up with you impaled on some spikes.

The save system is a bit annoying as well. When you die you need to choose whether to reload a level or start from the last checkpoint. It doesn't need to be there, and it'd be nice if it just dropped you back in.

But these are niggles that it's pretty easy to look past. Lost Journey isn't perfect, but it will put a smile on your face while you're playing it, and sometimes that's all you can ask.