banana split
Banana Split is a decent no-frills single-screen platformer. The graphics are decent; the controls are decent; the levels are decent; the length is decent; the price is decent. Everything’s decent. Therein lies the problem.

Decent isn’t enough. Ever since pioneers like Pitfall! and Super Mario Bros., the platforming genre has been one of the most popular gaming genres out there. There are literally thousands of platformers to choose from, many of them free online. Even on XBox Live Indie Games, you have better choices like Arkedo Series – 001 Jump! and Johnny Platform’s Biscuit Romp (which at 80 MS points is also cheaper) and if you move up to XBLA, you have the fantastic N+ & Splosion Man. In a genre so heavily saturated, decent is no longer acceptable.

Banana Split is certainly nothing to be ashamed of as a developer and I look forward to seeing their next project. It’s definitely worth downloading the demo to see if its traditional platforming style clicks with you more than it did for me. If nothing else, the banana man protagonist is mildly amusing.

4 Responses

  1. I tend to be a “glass half full” guy when it comes to “decent platformers.” I feel like even a decent platformer for $2.50 is worth a lazy Saturday afternoon. Totally agree that the genre is saturated – definitely hard to stand out. But on an indie budget that can be pretty tough – so for the market and the price, I found fun in Banana Split.

  2. Yeah, the game didn’t quite click with me, but it was a solid first attempt. Do you have any definite plans for future games yet?

  3. Thanks for your review. Sorry you didn’t click with the game, I’ve had “you love it or hate it” reviews so far. Most of this game was written while going through my final year of university studying games programming, so there’s probably a lot that could have had more time put into it but didn’t. Thanks for playing, though!

Comments are closed.