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VVVVVV

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Developer(s)Terry Cavanagh
Publisher(s)
Composer(s)Magnus Pålsson
Platform(s)Windows, Mac OS X, Adobe Flash
ReleaseJanuary 11, 2010[1]
Genre(s)2D puzzle platformer
Mode(s)Single player

VVVVVV is a 2D puzzle platform video game designed by Terry Cavanagh and composed by Magnus Pålsson. The game was built in Adobe Flash and released on January 11, 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A Linux version was in development, but eventually cancelled due to technical difficulties. The game is still playable in Linux via Wine[2]. In VVVVVV, the player controls Captain Viridian, who is lost in an alternate dimension, in search of the missing members of his spaceship's crew. Instead of jumping, the player is able to control the direction of gravity, allowing Captain Viridian to flip between the floors and ceilings of the environment. The graphical style of VVVVVV is heavily influenced by the Commodore 64; similarly, the game's music is entirely chiptune. Magnus Pålsson released the soundtrack to VVVVVV as PPPPPP.

Setting

The player controls Captain Viridian, who at the outset of VVVVVV must evacuate his spaceship along with his crew, when the ship becomes affected by "dimensional interference". The crew escapes through a teleporter on the ship; however, Captain Viridian finds himself separated from the rest of his crew on the other end of the teleporter. Upon returning to the ship, the Captain learns that the ship is trapped in an alternate dimension (referred to as Dimension VVVVVV), and that the ship's crew has been scattered throughout this dimension. The player's goal, as Captain Viridian, is to rescue the missing crew members and find the cause of the dimensional interference.

Gameplay

In this room, Captain Viridian must avoid the red spikes and green ghost. The "C" icon to the left of the spike pit is a checkpoint, which the player is returned to upon dying.

Unlike most platforming games, in VVVVVV the player is not able to jump, but instead can reverse the direction of gravity at any time, causing Captain Viridian to either fall upwards or downwards.[3] The player utilizes this mechanic to traverse the game's environment and avoid various hazards, including stationary spikes and moving enemies. Later areas introduce new mechanics such as moving floors or rooms which, upon touching one edge of the screen, cause the player character to appear on the other side.[4] VVVVVV contains eight main levels situated inside a larger open world for the player to explore.[5] Due to its high level of difficulty, the game world contains many checkpoints, which the player's character is reset to upon death.[6]

Development

The gravity-flipping mechanic of VVVVVV is based on an earlier game designed by Cavanagh, entitled Sine Wave Ninja. In an interview with IndieGames.com, Cavanagh said that he was interested in utilizing this idea as a core concept of a game, something he felt other games which include a gravity-flipping mechanism had never done before.[7]

Cavanagh first unveiled VVVVVV on his blog in June 2009. The game had been in development for two weeks, and Cavanagh estimated that the game would be finished in another two, "but hopefully not much longer."[8] A follow-up post published in July 2009 included screenshots of the game and an explanation of the game's gravity-flipping mechanic. Cavanagh wrote that VVVVVV, unlike some of his previous work (Judith, Pathways), would not be a "storytelling experiment", but rather "focused on the level design".[9] The game was first shown publicly at the 2009 Eurogamer Expo, which gave Cavanagh the opportunity to collect feedback from players.[10] In December 2009, a beta version of VVVVVV which had been given to donators was leaked on 4chan.[11]

The visual style of VVVVVV is heavily inspired by games released for the Commodore 64 8-bit computer from the 1980s; Cavanagh aimed to create a game "that looked and felt like the C64 games I grew up with." He also considered this game an opportunity to indulge in his "retro fetish". Cavanagh has said because he lacks the technical prowess to make more modern-looking games, he instead focuses on making them visually interesting; additionally, he finds this to be made easier by "work[ing] within narrow limits".[7]

VVVVVV was released on January 11, 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. A trial version of the game is playable on the website Kongregate.[12] A Linux version was in development, but a number of technical difficulties arose in the porting process, which led to its cancellation by Cavanagh. Although the game does not run natively in Linux, the Windows version is playable in Wine.[13] VVVVVV was the first game which Cavanagh sold commercially. While his previous games were all released as free-to-play Flash games, due to the size of VVVVVV compared to his previous work, Cavanagh felt that he "couldn't see [himself] going down that route."[7]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of VVVVVV was composed by chiptune musician Magnus Pålsson (also known as SoulEye). Cavanagh approached Pålsson to compose VVVVVV after playing Space Phallus, an indie game by Charlie's Games, which featured a song by him. Pålsson wrote on the Distractionware blog that, upon playing Cavanagh's previous games, he was "amazed at the depth that came with the games, even though they were small and short." In writing the music for VVVVVV, Pålsson aimed to make "uptempo happy songs that would ingrain themselves into your minds whether you want to or not, hopefully so much so that you’d go humming on them when not playing, and making you want to come back to the game even more."[14] The complete soundtrack, titled PPPPPP, was released alongside VVVVVV and is sold as a digital download on Pålsson's personal website.[15]

Reception

VVVVVV has been generally well-received by critics, earning a score of 77% on review aggregate website GameRankings, based on nine reviews.[16] The game was noted for being the first important independent release of 2010;[5][4] Kieron Gillen of Rock, Paper, Shotgun called it "the first great Indie game of the year",[5] while Michael Rose, writing for IndieGames.com, noted that the release of VVVVVV followed a year which "some may argue...didn't really deliver an outstanding indie title which showed the mainstream that independent developers mean business."[4] The level design of VVVVVV was lauded by critics:[4][3][6] Rose considered the game to have no filler content, which he found to be "one of the game's strongest points".[4] Michael McWhertor of gaming news blog Kotaku wrote that the game's areas contained "a surprising amount of variation throughout...ensuring that VVVVVV never feels like its designer failed to explore the gameplay possibilities."[3]

Most reviewers wrote of VVVVVV's high level of difficulty.[17][3][6][18] McWhertor found that "the game's trial and error moments can seriously test one's patience."[3] However, several critics noted that the game's challenge is made less frustrating due to its numerous checkpoints, as well as the player's ability to retry after dying as many times as needed.[6][17] These additions made VVVVVV "not unforgiving", according to IGN staff writer Samuel Claiborn, while still being "old-school in its demands of player dedication".[17]

The price of VVVVVV when it was originally released was $15. This was seen by McWhertor as being the game's "one unfortunate barrier" to entry: "While there's plenty to see and do after blazing through the game's core campaign, the steeper than expected asking price will probably turn some off."[3] Likewies, Gillen wrote in his review that the cost "does strike you as a lot for an Indie lo-fi platformer", while insisting that "it is worth the money".[5] Since its original release, the price of VVVVVV has been reduced to $5. On his blog, Cavanagh said that the decision was difficult to make, but added, "I know that the original price of $15 was off putting for a lot of people".[19]

VVVVVV was awarded the IndieCade 2010 award for "Most Fun and Compelling" game in October 2010.[20] The game's protagonist, Captain Viridian, is a playable character in the Windows and Mac versions of platform game Super Meat Boy.[21]

References

  1. ^ "VVVVVV for PC". GameSpot. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  2. ^ "WineHQ - VVVVVV 1.2". WineHQ.org. 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  3. ^ a b c d e f McWhertor, Michael (2010-01-15). "VVVVVV Micro-review: AAAAAAH!!!". Kotaku. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  4. ^ a b c d e Rose, Michael (2010-01-11). "Review: VVVVVV (Terry Cavanagh)". IndieGames.com. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  5. ^ a b c d Gillen, Kieron (2010-01-12). "Wot I Think: VVVVVV". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  6. ^ a b c d Edge Staff (2010-01-08). "Review: VVVVVV". Edge. Retrieved 2010-12-01. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ a b c Rose, Michael (2010-01-06). "Intervvvvvview: Terry Cavanagh". IndieGames.com. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  8. ^ Cavanagh, Terry (2009-06-10). "VVVVVVVV Preview". Distractionware. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  9. ^ Cavanagh, Terry (2009-07-15). "When It's Done". Distractionware. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  10. ^ Cavanagh, Terry (2009-11-05). "Eurogamer Expo 2009". Distractionware. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  11. ^ Cavanagh, Terry (2009-12-07). "Final Push". Distractionware. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  12. ^ "VVVVVV Demo". Kongregate. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  13. ^ Cavanagh, Terry (2010-01-22). "Please Forgive Me!". Distractionware. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  14. ^ Pålsson, Magnus (2010-01-07). "Select Track". Retrieved 2010-11-30.
  15. ^ Pålsson, Magnus. "Souleye - Digital Music". Retrieved 2010-11-30.
  16. ^ "VVVVVV for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  17. ^ a b c Claiborn, Samuel (2010-02-10). "VVVVVV Review". IGN. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  18. ^ McDougall, Jaz (2010-02-11). "VVVVVV Review". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  19. ^ Cavanagh, Terry (2010-09-08). "Positive Force". Distractionware. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  20. ^ "IndieCade Awards 2010". 2010-10-08. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
  21. ^ "Super Meat Boy on Steam". Steam. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
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