7 Horizons

Genre: Action-Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

7 Horizons is a family-friendly Action-Platformer released on Nintendo Switch in 2023. In this game, players take the roles of members of an international team protecting a planet from aliens invading to plunder the world’s resources. Unfortunately, all but one of them are quickly captured, leaving the remaining hero to rescue his comrades and stop the alien menace.

7 Horizons seems loosely inspired by classic 8-Bit Action-Platformers like the Mega Man series, but do not expect anything even remotely “Nintendo Hard” here. Quite the contrary, 7 Horizons is excessively gentle in its difficulty, with dumb enemies who are easy to take down, stage hazards that are easy to avoid, and the first boss went down in five seconds after some not particularly-strenuous button-mashing on the attack button.

That’s not to say there’s no enjoyment to be had here – the level design is decent, with some secrets cleverly hidden away, and the unlockable characters have interesting abilities to differentiate each other. It’s just difficult to get excited for a game you can pretty much sleepwalk your way through.

In keeping with this game’s inspiration, 7 Horizons does have a presentation that also seems inspired by classics like the Nintendo Entertainment System Mega Man games, with colorful 2D pixel art and some decent chiptune music. None of it is particularly memorable, but it works well enough for what this game is aiming for.

I do think there’s a place for games like 7 Horizons in today’s videogame landscape, and while the thought “Baby’s First Action-Platformer” repeatedly came to mind as I played as a snide observation about the game… it’s not exactly wrong. But while it may be accurate as a derisive criticism, it’s also probably true as a compliment – if you’re looking for a game to gently introduce players to the Action-Platformer genre, 7 Horizons is a decent choice, albeit not an especially compelling one.

tl;dr – 7 Horizons is a family-friendly Action-Platformer that has players taking the role of members of a peacekeeping team sent to fend off alien invaders plundering their planet for resources. This game is seemingly inspired by classics of the genre, but has none of the challenge of those games, nor any especially unique or compelling hook to make the game stand out. As a way to gently introduce players to Action-Platformers, this isn’t a terrible choice, but it’s otherwise a pretty forgettable entry in the genre.

Grade: C+

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