Mighty Milky Way

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Mighty Milky Way is a family-friendly physics-based Platformer released on the Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service in 2011 and then grandfathered into the Nintendo 3DS eShop when that system was released. In this game, players take the role of Luna, a green-skinned lass trying to get to the black hole in each of the game’s outer space levels by bouncing off of the planets along the way.

Mighty Milky Way features an absolutely wonderful spacey presentation, which features colorful pixel art visuals with excellent animation, and still-frame cartoony images between stages. However, while the visuals are endearing, the really wonderful part about the presentation here is the sound, with some very nice, laid-back chiptune songs for the game’s levels, really catchy title screen music, and some really adorable voice clips for Luna herself, who will occasionally make random comments in French as you’re playing. All of this works to make this a game that may well have you smiling before you even play it.

That’s not to say that the gameplay isn’t worth talking about though. Mighty Milky Way features some pretty unique gameplay, and it’s also gameplay that’s clearly built around the DSi’s (and later, Nintendo 3DS’s) dual screens and touchscreens.

Players mostly do not control Luna directly. Left to her own devices, she’ll continue walking steadily clockwise around whatever planet or moon she’s on indefinitely. Players can slow or halt her walking by tapping left or right on the D-Pad, and can zoom in or out by pressing up and down (with mirrored controls on the buttons on the right side for the lefties out there).

Rather than moving Luna yourself, the game has you tapping the touchscreen to interact with the spacey world around Luna. You can tap the planet Luna is on to make her leap off of it, with a second tap destroying the planet outright. Alternately, you can tap in space to create a new planet, holding down longer to form a larger planet with heavier gravity.

While physics do play a part in altering Luna’s trajectory mid-jump, for the most part the gameplay is largely focused on jumping and forming planets at the right trajectory, and having the proper timing to avoid monsters along the way. Despite the game’s simple premise, there is some excellent level design here that gets players to make use of its mechanics in fun and creative ways that help to keep things moving with a lot of variety.

In one of this game’s quirks, you’ll quickly learn that while you can zoom out the screen, it doesn’t zoom too far, and it’s often better to rely on your map on the top screen of the Nintendo 3DS. What’s more, while the game teaches you to place planets with your feet still on the ground, this is far from the optimal way to do it much of the time – you’re usually better off launching yourself and then placing a planet mid-flight as you need it. This all takes some getting used to, but once you know how the game works, you’ll be moving fluidly through the game’s levels.

Will everyone like Mighty Milky Way? Probably not – the indirect way you control your character isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. But players who are looking for a unique Platformer with a ton of personality should absolutely make an effort to get this game before the Nintendo 3DS eShop closes in March 2023. It is well worth its $8 price tag, and you’re not going to find it anywhere else.

tl;dr – Mighty Milky Way is a physics-based Platformer that has you bouncing off planets in space to get to a black hole. This game’s mechanics are truly unique and inspired, and the presentation is just lovely, with tons of personality. And while the unusual gameplay may not be for everyone, I think most will absolutely want to snatch this game up quickly before the Nintendo 3DS eShop closes in March 2023.

Grade: B+

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