Terry Cavanagh has done it again.

He does art games, super hard and addictive hexagon games, and it seems he does clever platformers with pitch-perfect retro stylings. In this case, VVVVVV is heavily influenced by the Commodore 64, which is evident from the very opening loading screen. Also the flip-screen setup, the colour choices, and the Jet Set Willy-style abstract enemies and each room having a unique name. Thankfully it also has modern niceties like fast respawns and screen transitions, frequent checkpointing, and an in-game map. These quality of life features are important, as you will likely rack up hundreds of death in short order.

I should explain the game though. Your only controls are moving left and right, and flipping the personal gravitational direction of our hero Captain Viridian, either down or up. So it’s a platformer without jumping. You have a non-linear world map which leads to more linear zones, where the crew of your ship have been teleported and must be retrieved. The game is full of teleporters, making getting around easy, and the ship is a nice little hub where you can chat to the crew, see your collectibles, play the excellent chiptune tracks by Magnus Pålsson on demand, etc.

The zones where your crew has ended up are a gauntlet of tough challenges, all revolving around the flipping mechanic and building on it with mechanics like auto-flip lines or screen wraps. The level design very cleverly tests this central mechanic and finds ways to iterate on it, while keeping up the bizarre and minimalist world you find yourself in.

And about those collectibles: the game contains twenty hidden or difficult-to-obtain shiny things. The reward for collecting them all is relatively minor, so don’t destroy yourself trying to get them all if you’re not feeling it. I took on the challenge, inflating my playtime a fair bit, and was satisfied to get them all in the end. Apart from that there’s extra time trial modes and such, but the main experience is to the point, sweetly brief, and the most well-realised use of a gravity flipping mechanic I’ve seen!