B.I.O.T.A.

I'd say about 80% of this game is very good. The general gameplay loop of exploring, teleporting back, buying items - it's great, and each character's unique weapons and subweapons make you constantly want to keep switching between them. If the whole game was like that, it'd be perfect, but unfortunately there's several dreaded vehicle sections. They're not very fun, not very challenging, and they go on for far, far too long. There are several toward the end of the game that come right after the other, and they drag the pace down to a complete crawl. They were frustrating, but thankfully you only have to do each one of them once. As an aside, I was also annoyed that you couldn't return to the overworld after getting an ending so you could view the other one. You're locked in to the ending you choose, and have to start a new file from scratch in order to get the remaining collectables and see the ending you didn't pick. There's ways to shorten the second playthrough, but it did end up leaving a sour taste in my mouth. I know it sounds like I'm being pretty negative, but those are just parts that really stuck out to me in an otherwise great experience. The main game is pretty great, despite everything.

It's a fun little game. Saving between screens adds a great element of casual play while being hard overall. Looks great on a CRT TV, with fun filters, if you're a weirdo like me. That being said, some sections like the submarine area are a bit of a slog, and I did get lost a few times. The story isn't extremely engaging, but if you like these kind of games, it's reasonably priced.

Crazy how people can make crazy good games with these graphics lol Enjoyed every bit of it.

Thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game and achieved a good ending on the first run. Loved the art-style, music, the unlockable color palettes and overall feel of the game. Just had a short struggle with the brain boss and did not love the mech and sub sections - they dragged on for too long. Also if you do not get the hidden specimens/rooms in the first run, that's it, you can't go back to the last save and explore more - you need to replay the game - but at least all things can be unlocked, so it's a faster run. I hope for a sequel.

B.I.O.T.A. is a retro style Metroidvania that has an amazing style and a surprising amount of options for playstile and even look of the game. Gameplay wise this is a simple one with some precision platforming thrown in with the enemies to make exploration a pretty fun time. It has a host of characters making up the crew that you play as witch you can switch between and even add to as you play the game. They all have pretty unique kits with different weapons and special abilities that can actually pretty drastically change how you play unless you just want to jump around shooting which is easy to do with any of them but easier with some than others for sure. Aesthetically this game is great. It has very well done pixel art and a cliche but fun story about corrupt megacorps and the 80s action heroes that are here to shoot bugs and save the day. It has big monsters, guns, cussing and explosions all over it if you want there to be. This game also has a pretty unique option from what I have seen in other games and that is literally changing the color palette anytime you want with a ton of options to make the game look how you want it to at any given time. You even unlock more pallets as you play and can really change the feel of the game with some of them. The game does have some negatives from me as well. The platforming is fun but has some small quirks to it that took me a while to get the hang of. The wall grabbing which happens automatically a lot of the time really messed me up on multiple occasions and the stop on a dime while in mid air did the same but I was able to get the hang of that in time. Also, near the end of the game I found myself on a section in which you are repelling down a large hole connected to a rope and it honestly just sucked. The rope part was so frustrating that I almost dropped the game and yeah it may have been a skill issue but man was it not fun. I very much recommend this game for anyone who likes some fun action and nice pixel art wrapped in a well made Metroidvania that is not too long and really oozes its style.

Fun metroidvainia, but absolutely is rage inducing at points.