Beeny

Genre: Platformer / Arcade

Players: 1

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Review:

Beeny is a family-friendly Arcade-style Platformer released on PC and Nintendo Switch in 2022. In this game, players control the titular ball-shaped bee, helping him leap up branches between a pair of trees to reach a beehive dangling at the top of the level.

The presentation here uses 2D pixel art visuals in a “pre-rendered” style that’s evocative of the classic Donkey Kong Country games on Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and this presentation is bolstered by a chiptune soundtrack that also seems reminiscent of those soundtracks, with some catchy tunes like Bees on Parade and Take the Honey. It’s very clear this developer was aiming for nostalgia with this presentation and they absolutely nailed it.

The gameplay, while by no means bad, is not quite as successful, simply having you jumping up one platform after another in obstacle course-style levels. Each level does have its own unique theme and hazard, but none of these remains novel for very long. There’s not much challenge to be found here either – there’s no death in this game (the closest is one level with an enemy that sends you instantly back to one of the frequent checkpoints), and you’re trailed by a trio of bees that act as a platform to ensure you can’t fall back very far and lose all your progress. The closest thing to a challenge here is a time trial mode that unlocks once you complete the game.

On that note, Beeny is exceptionally short, with only ten levels, plus an extra area that acts as a preview of the developer’s subsequent game, Super Kiwi 64. Apart from the time trials, I was able to complete everything in the game within only 15 minutes.

Is Beeny worth the low $1 price tag? Honestly, I’m not sure. It’s not much to pay, and even though the game is only 15 minutes long, I did enjoy those 15 minutes… though I can’t say I was especially thrilled with those 15 minutes either. And I wouldn’t be surprised if I forget this game completely a few years from now. I do feel like there was missed potential here to expand on the core gameplay and make this into something more substantial. As-is, I suppose it’s an okay way to spend a fifteen minute break, but not much more than that.

tl;dr – Beeny is an Arcade-style Platformer with a great presentation reminiscent of the classic Donkey Kong Country trilogy. However, the gameplay that has you jumping up tree branches as a round bee isn’t very noteworthy or memorable, and the game’s extremely short 15-minute length, while offset by its tiny $1 price, nevertheless results in this being a pretty unimpactful experience.

Grade: C

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