I’ve done a couple of Twitch streams as an experiment to see how I enjoy them. For an audience of around 3, I today played through the entirety of this indie GBA game in 3 hours. It was an enjoyable experience despite some missteps (both the game and the stream).

French studio RFX Interactive seems to have (briefly) been the kind of studio that makes licensed games to save up money, then makes a passion project of their own IP. They didn’t last long unfortunately, developing only a handful of GBC and GBA games before folding. As it turns out, I’ve played one of theirs before: Tonic Trouble for GBC.

The game does have heart. The character designs range from adorable (I was reluctant to take out most enemies because they were so cute) to grody and terrifying, with lots of human-animal hybrids and one very angry walrus. The actual graphics work seems amateurish, but there are neat effects and background details frequently that made me stop and take notice.

The plot’s a bit of a mess. Hilariously, the opening exposition crawl zooms by way faster than I could read, so working out what was going on in subsequent cutscenes was something of a journey. The ending too is rushed and unsatisfying. The environmental development and worldbuilding was much stronger and more interesting than the actual story, which is OK.

As for the gameplay, we have a 2D action platformer as you can tell. Levels are often a bit open with different paths available to the player, like I think maybe Sonic is like that? Dunno, haven’t played it. Sia has various magic skills that open up to her and sword combos, most of which I found difficult to pull off and not often necessary. But there’s lots of variety in enemies and mini environmental setpieces which keeps it fresh. Boss fights are a total letdown though: anticlimactic, lacking impact, and often very buggy (although that may have been emulation issues). They often transform you into a large beastlike form which has different abilities, rather than testing skills you use during normal levels. Hrm.

So this is another game that my friend Gibbon of DK Girder (plugs for his 100% stream attendance) recommended, one whose IP has been lost to time with the dissolving of its creator. Planned sequels were cancelled and Sia is forgotten. But maybe that just makes it more poignant to dig up and admire its artistry and ambition, as well as learning from its questionable design decisions and lack of polish. Give it a go, why not?