I’ve talked about this before, but a good 2D platformer needs to have controls that feel tight and precise in order to make the game work. The prime modern-day example of great-feeling controls is Super Meat Boy (and Super Meat Boy took a lot of inspiration from the way Mario controlled in Super Mario Bros.)
Sir Lovelot is a game that gets this. It’s almost unreal how good this game feels to play.
The character, Sir Lovelot himself, is super responsive. He zips through the air, leaving a psychedelic trail behind him and making these wet-sounding (for some reason) footstep sounds. He has a rapid double-jump, which is accompanied by a little flip maneuver and a satisfying whoosh sound. He also has an air dash, though you can either double jump or air dash (never both in the same jump). I almost always go for the double jump.
When Sir Lovelot smacks into a wall, he’ll either cling there (if he hits the top of the wall) or slide down (if he doesn’t hit the top of the wall), giving him a wall hop ability (he’s a bit like Meat Boy or Mega Man X in this regard). Sir Lovelot is a surprisingly nimble little fellow.
On top of all this, he can shoot projectiles. I’m not sure what they are, but they’re yellow and they make bubble sounds. When a projectile hits a mobile enemy (some enemies are rooted to the ground), that enemy will be pushed back slightly. Several projectiles in a row will continuously push the enemy backward until they eventually pop like a balloon.
The levels start off easy but ramp up in difficulty (pretty quickly, I might add). While there are often quite a few obstacles, near-misses tend to be pretty forgiving. If you die, Sir Lovelot will immediately respawn, giving you a near-instant second (or third, or fortieth) chance to try again.
All of this — absolutely every piece of it — just straight-up feels good. Button presses are extremely fast and responsive, and levels are laid out with a rare amount of precision. The difficulty feels exactly right, and even the really hard parts feel fair. I seriously haven’t felt this good playing a 2D platformer since… well, I wanted to say Super Meat Boy here, but I think the more accurate reference point would be Celeste, if I’m being honest. (Celeste felt really good to play too.)
Sir Lovelot gets a lot of things right that similar 2D platformers get wrong. This is clearly a game made by people who love the genre and spend a lot of time thinking about what makes a platformer feel good to play. And I definitely appreciate that.
Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of Sir Lovelot by the publisher.
