Xeodrifter

Genre: Metroidvania

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in the Mutant Mudds Collection + Xeodrifter bundle, along with Mutant Mudds Collection, which includes Mutant Mudds Deluxe, Mutant Mudds Super Challenge, and Mudd Blocks)

Xeodrifter may very well be the most Metroidy game I’ve ever played that wasn’t actually in the Metroid series. It bears a similar aesthetic, and the gameplay feels similar without being identical.

It may be more accurate to say that Xeodrifter feels something like a game somewhere between the original Metroid and Metroid Zero Mission – It has the NES game’s simplicity of design, but the gameplay is smoother and more well-rounded like Zero Mission.

The player plays a space traveler whose ship has been damaged and you must go out to four local planets in search of something to use for repairs. Each planet is self-contained, but because of the way the game is designed, you’ll have to go back and forth between them multiple times as you find new items that allow you to progress further. A new underwater ability on one planet, for example, may allow you to search new underwater areas on another planet, which might lead you to a new item that will help with the previous planet or a completely different one.

While this game’s levels aren’t nearly as intricate as, say, Super Metroid, there’s still good stuff on offer here. Some of the game’s abilities are quite unique, such as one that lets you jump into the background. And the game’s bosses are quite tough, but thankfully dying doesn’t require you to tread all the way back to them, so defeating them is simply a matter of trial and error.

The game really hits all the right Metroid “notes”, while it lasts… and that’s kinda’ the problem. The game is pretty short, being over in a matter of 3-5 hours. What’s more, the disconnected nature of the four planets feels like it’s keeping them from having more intricate connections like you get in Metroidvanias that just have different connected areas. What this results in is an experience that feels very much like a bite-size Metroid in every respect. But… if you’re feeling like a bite-size Metroid, that might not be a bad thing.

In the end Xeodrifter does a good job being a bite-size alternative to Metroid, and since the Switch is currently lacking a proper Metroid game, this makes for a fine substitute.

tl;dr – Xeodrifter is a Metroidvania game that really does a good job of feeling like a Metroid game, although it’s a bite-size experience that lacks the scope of the actual Metroid titles.

Grade: A-

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