Rafa’s World

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1

.

Review:

(Note: This game is included in 10 in 1 Games Bundle, along with .cat Milk, .cat, Bruxa, Cats Puzzle, Chubby Cat, Fly Cat, Him & Her 3, Rô, and Scrap Bolts. It is also included in the Rafa’s World + Axolotl + .cat Milk bundle, along with .cat Milk and Axolotl. In addition, it is also included in Rô + Fire Race + Scrap Bolts + Milk Seller + Home Sweet Home + Rafa´s World along with Rô, Fire Race, Scrap Bolts, Milk Seller, and Home Sweet Home. Additionally, it is included in Family Vacation Bundle / 20 Games, along with .cat Milk, American Man, Axolotl, Bruxa, CatCat, Cats Puzzle, Cooking Craze, Dinogotchi, Fire Race, Hidden Theft, Home Sweet Home, Kitten Island, Last Mage Survivors, Nincat, Rô, Scrap Bolts, Scribbled, Submarine Bubble, and The Great Battle of Shark Monkey Squirrel Dinossaur Bird Bee.)

Rafa’s World is a family-friendly Platformer released on Nintendo Switch in 2023. In this game, players take the role of the titular Rafa, who must jump and punch his way through various levels full of boxes and monsters. Oh, yes, your character does attack enemies and get attacked in this game, which normally I wouldn’t feel the need to clarify except this game does say in its description that it doesn’t have “any kind of violence”, which is flatly untrue . I mean, it’s no Mortal Kombat and there’s no blood or anything like that, but punching and being attacked is clearly a form of violence and… I’m getting off-track here.

The presentation here is decent, featuring colorful pixel art visuals, backed by a light synthesized tune. It mostly looks good, though I have to mention that this game didn’t even bother with a ladder-climbing animation, with your character just frozen in a jumping position as he climbs, which just seems lazy.

As for the gameplay, players will be moving through levels filled with enemies, hazards, and lots and lots of boxes, and by default they can only jump and punch, though you’ll be able to acquire or purchase power-ups that let you do things like throw fireballs or double-jump. Unfortunately, while this mostly works well enough, the hit detection for your kicks is absolutely terrible, making you repeatedly miss in your attacks due to no fault of your own. This issue really detracts from your enjoyment of the gameplay.

Another thing that will likely detract from your enjoyment? The absurd $10 price tag, which is far more bloated than a simple and flawed game like this deserves. However, if you wanted to play this game anyway, you’re in luck, I suppose – a Compilation including this game plus two others, Rafa’s World + Axolotl + .cat Milk, is available for only $0.75, a much more reasonable price, which is bizarre since that bundle also contains two other games. If you’re interested in Rafa’s World and think you can look past this game’s flaws, I highly recommend you get that bundle instead.

tl;dr – Rafa’s World is a family-friendly Platformer where players control the titular Rafa as he jumps and punches his way through enemies and a lot of boxes. The gameplay here is seriously marred by poor hit detection. However, probably this game’s biggest problem is that its $10 price tag is too high, especially when the Rafa’s World + Axolotl + .cat Milk bundle that includes this game is only $0.75. With this being the case, absolutely no one should buy this game here, and those who think they can tolerate its flaws are better getting the bundle.

Grade: D+

.

This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Most Overpriced ($10)

.

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Talissa, Eli Goodman, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}