B.I.O.T.A is an 8-bit Metroidvania action-platformer released and it’s developed by small bros and published by Retro vibe. While it can be too repetitive and its limited 4-colour palette can be off-putting sometimes, I think you might want to check this one if you are a fan of retro Metroidvania games.
Gameplay
B.I.O.T.A feels good to play. The controls can be a bit slippery on a keyboard but, when I change to the controller it feels smooth. One thing that annoys me kept carried on though, the controls on wall-jumping are finicky and frustrating. It is the only thing that breaks my enjoyment when speeding through the level. When a platform that I need to reach requires a wall jump, it held my momentum from going to the next platform or made me fall down into a floor below or to my death.
Even if I screw up, the game has a dedicated save button after each room you cleared. So, if you die you can load in the room you last save in. But if you forgot to save at a room or at all, there are only several save points on each biome. However, these save points are too few and far in between of each other. So if you rely on these save points, it will make lose a lot of progress and it can be a tedious experience to retrace the same rooms over and over.
There are multiple characters that you can control. In the beginning, there are 4 character you can play and more if you progress further into the game. However, even with their unique abilities, stats, and guns, I found that they all have this familiar feeling to play each character like there is no distinct feeling to each character.
Graphic and Sound
It looks and ooze the aura of a game that is born from the Gameboy Color era. The colors are strictly revolves around the 4-color from those era too. Color scheme can be changed into other preset color palette in the game pause menu. B.I.O.T.A offers more than ten 4-color palettes and more of the preset can be unlocked from collecting items hidden throughout the game.
The downside of the 4-color palette is that sometimes the bright colors can be too bright. After ten minute or so playing it, I was left with a headache after staring at the game’s bright colors. This bums me out since I was enjoying playing it.
Sound design, although limited in terms of variety, is crisp and clean. The main theme and the background music are catchy and sound effects are pretty crisp. But, after a while I found it rather boring and repetitive to listen since it loops over and over until you find the next biome.
Conclusion
B.I.O.T.A had some problems that held it back. Its repetitive gameplay, playable characters feels the same, and headache inducing colors ruined my overall experience. For me, this wasn’t a game that can itch that NES or Gameboy Color nostalgia cravings but, I can see why this game can be perfect for others. It is easy to pick up and fun to play. I do wish that the developer can improve more and I will be looking forward on their next project.
