Tiny Thor Switch Review
Summary: Tiny Thor is a well put together game and those looking for something with a challenge will of course enjoy this title. The challenge is hard but fair and the difficulty curve does not spike too rapidly. There are also accessibility options available for those that require this, which is always a positive in my book. Finally to answer my statement from the start after playing this title I can say this game was left in the oven for the perfect amount of time.
4
Difficult Platformer
In 2012 an Idea was formed for a game based around Thor… not the most original idea but there is a twist! This will be based on child Thor who has just been gifted the mighty Mjoliner Hammer. 11 years later we are now able to experience this adventure from Asylum Square, let’s hope the bun wasn’t left in the oven too long.
Story
As previously mentioned Thor has just been given his mighty Hammer and decides to go outside and try it out. Whilst out he meets a stranger who tells him to destroy the Bitfrost Anchor, not knowing the danger Thor does as he is told. As expected, calamity happens and Asgard is split away from Midgard. Now it is up to an 8 year old demi god to stop the evil Ragnorok from destroying everything he holds dear.
Tiny Thor takes the shape of an Action, Puzzle Platformer. Using your hammer to kill enemies and more importantly to solve puzzles. This is where Tiny Thor gets interesting because unlike most games your hammer is more than just a weapon, you are able to throw the hammer and have it return to you like a boomerang. You are also able to aim your throw to rebound off surfaces this allows you to hit buttons to open up the next part of the level or to clear enemies out of your path whilst you navigate the perilous and difficult jumps. Along the way there are 3 gems per level which are hidden, find them and you will open new areas to explore. Of course like any good platformer there are plenty of boss battles to endure each one getting harder and harder.
On that note this is probably a good place to talk about the difficulty; Tiny Thor is not for the faint of heart as you progress through the 30 levels you will quickly find that this beautiful 16 bit game is not as easy as first seems. Expect to die a lot! Thankfully throughout each level there are checkpoints and death just means restarting from there. To ease some of the difficulty you can collect hearts once you get hit by the enemy you lose a heart, but fear not you have a small window of time to run after the heart as it bounces away, similar to the hearts in Prehistorik Man. As you progress Thor will slowly gain new abilities and buffs, one that is important to your health is buff that increases the amount of time you have to reach a fallen heart.
The controls in Tiny Thor are for the most part solid and had no input lag, jumps whilst difficult to master are not held back by slippery controls. The control of the Hammer throwing is well done with a trajectory line to show you where it will go after you release allowing you to better aim your shot and to be more tactical especially if you are trying to take out harder to reach enemies.
The decision to style the game in a retro inspired 16 bit aesthetic allows for some gorgeous artwork and animation whilst also allowing for smooth movement that can be sometimes lost when transitioned to 3-D. Whilst beautiful and vibrant with plenty happening on screen you are never overwhelmed nor does the game suffer from slow down.
Final Thoughts
Tiny Thor is a well put together game and those looking for something with a challenge will of course enjoy this title. The challenge is hard but fair and the difficulty curve does not spike too rapidly. There are also accessibility options available for those that require this, which is always a positive in my book. Finally to answer my statement from the start after playing this title I can say this game was left in the oven for the perfect amount of time.
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