PlataGo! Super Platform Game Maker

Genre: Content Creation Application / Platformer

Players: 1, Online Content Sharing

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Review:

PlataGo is a Game Design Application released on PC and Nintendo Switch in 2019. Much like the Super Mario Maker games, PlataGo! lets players design their own Platforming levels, connect them into full-fledged (albeit small) “games”, and download the creations of other players online.

The visuals here make use of simple pixel art graphics, but there’s a nice variety of styles that allow players to display creations as if they were a game from the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Super Nintendo, Commodore 64, and various other classic game platforms. While individually, there’s nothing here that’s especially impressive, but the variety of options are a nice touch. Similarly, the music here is all chiptune stuff that’s not especially memorable, but works well enough with the retro-style visuals.

However, while there are some nice visual options, the problems in this game start right off the bat. The menus in this game do not work properly with a gamepad, with the selection cursor glitching out within seconds of me exploring the game’s menus. Using touchscreen controls does help matters somewhat, but no matter which way you try to make use of this game, it’s extremely clunky. And interface issues aside, menus are still sluggish and glitchy in how they load. It definitely feels like this release wasn’t properly tested and released in a buggy, broken, incomplete state.

The creation tools here are decent enough, once you actually manage to contend with the terrible controls and unintuitive menu layout. There’s absolutely no guide or instructions on how to go about designing levels here, so players will have to muddle through on their own. There’s a decent variety of features to use for terrain, power-ups, hazards, and enemies, and players can change the core gameplay elements like jump abilities and health slightly. Players looking for a low-cost alternative to Super Mario Maker 2 have some decent options here.

Unfortunately, no matter which way you go about building it, the actual Platformer gameplay isn’t very good here. It feels stiff and somewhat unnatural. So even once you get past the terrible controls and confusing menus and manage to build your own masterpiece, it will still be held back by the core gameplay mechanics here.

The same holds true for the levels shared by other players, which seem to follow Mario Maker’s lead in trending towards grueling challenges over actual fun levels. Perhaps there’s a better way to search for genuinely good levels, but that would involve messing around in this game’s terrible menus, and every second spent in those just makes me want to shut this game off.

It’s a shame that PlataGo! wasn’t polished up more prior to release, because it is really hurt by its glitches and flaws that make the simple act of navigating your way around the game a frustrating chore, and the gameplay in the Platforming levels you create will be limited by the underwhelming core gameplay present here. This is particularly unfortunate because the tools present here provide a lot of enticing options for prospective game designers, and with a little effort to polish and improve this game, it could have absolutely been the low-cost alternative to Super Mario Maker that it seeks to be. As it is, it’s too frustrating for most players to feel like the relatively low cost is worth it.

tl;dr – PlataGo is a Game Design Application with a good variety of options, but it is crippled by its terrible menus, horrible controls, overall bugginess, and its core Platformer gameplay just isn’t very good. While there are some enticing features here for prospective game designers, you’re probably better off spending the extra to get Super Mario Maker 2.

Grade: C-

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