Freedom Planet 2

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1

.

Review:

(Note: This game is included in Freedom Planet 1+2 Bundle, along with Freedom Planet.)

When I reviewed the original Freedom Planet, I was delighted to discover it was a game that played like a great take on the Sonic the Hedgehog formula that not only did a superb job channeling what made the Sonic games great, but added its own twist to the formula, letting players take control of one of three characters with their own unique attacks, special attacks, and movement abilities, and having occasional puzzles to solve.

Now in 2024 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, this series is back with a sequel that’s a bit less puzzle-focused, but that gives players a variety of interesting and unique stages, improves the pacing, adds a new parry move that lets careful players deflect damage from enemy attacks, and adds a new character, Neera, who fights by firing projectiles. While Neera is a bit slow and clunky for my tastes, all three of the first game’s characters are still playable here as well.

The colorful, cartoony 2D pixel art visuals look a lot more detailed this time around, with a lot of fun detail and animation in the game’s backgrounds, all while remaining largely faithful to the original game. The prior game’s voice cast returns here as well, once again delivering a solid performance. The catchy, jazzy synthesized soundtrack with Asian influences is also quite excellent, with standout themes like Dragon Valley, Shenlin Park, Tiger Falls, Robot Graveyard, and Shade Armory.

Overall, Freedom Planet 2 largely succeeds by continuing to do nearly everything the first game got right while making improvements all around to the pacing, gameplay, and presentation. The result is a game that’s a must-play for fans of the original, strongly recommended for fans of Sonic games, and overall a great pick for anyone who enjoys Platformers.

tl;dr – Freedom Planet 2 once again delivers its great take on the core Sonic the Hedgehog gameplay, and this time improves on multiple elements in the gameplay and presentation. The result is an outstanding Platformer that any fan of Sonic-style games should absolutely get their hands on.

Grade: B+

.

This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2024 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Sequel

.

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

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