Recent reviews by Chrisuu

You've most likely played some variant of the tomb-raiding hero, the dragon-slaying warrior, or the stealthy rogue. You've most likely battled hordes of enemy soldiers, giant robots, mythical creatures, or some other, similarly overwhelming adversary. But have you ever been a small triangle restricted to a circular orbit of movement?

Okay, so the difference is mostly superficial. You're still the hero that the world revolves around (quite literally, in this case). You're still up against an overwhelming, antagonistic force (an endless array of geometric shapes intent to crush you via head-on collision). And while you don't quite face stronger and ever more fantastic beasts, you do face increasingly complex, obstacular patterns set to ever more fantastic beats B)

Speaking of the beats! They are composed by chiptune artist Chipzel and complement the frantic pace of the game perfectly. Super Hexagon is not a rhythm-game but it feels like it sometimes. Wanting to listen to these wonderful tunes without interruption was (and still is) a strong motivator for me to get through a level unscathed.

The graphics may seem a little strange at first. But in a video gaming era marked by graphical excess and flash that ages even faster than the computer hardware it runs on, these flat, minimalist, timeless shapes are a welcome change of pace. I suspect the game will age fairly well compared to some of its contemporaries, which rely on more sophisticated visuals.

If you have a few minutes to kill, Super Hexagon can be a great casual game to pick up and drop at your leisure. But once those minutes have accumulated, you may also learn something about surpassing your limits. I still remember how impossible it seemed to get through even the first stage. Now I can do it in my sleep! The specific skills I've learned playing Super Hexagon will likely never carry over to any other game or activity. But going through the process of acquiring those skills reinforced some concepts about the learning process itself, which will likely serve me well in other areas of life. You will learn (or re-learn) how a seemingly impossible task can be overcome, bit by by, over a series of multiple days, weeks, and months, until what seemed impossible becomes fairly trivial. I re-learned how important persistence is in the learning process. I'm sure other games teach those lessons too, but the lack of distractions and arbitrary complexity in Super Hexagon makes them so much more obvious.

This game also taught me something about perspective. One of the most common complaints about the game is that it's too hard. But one ought to keep in mind that the levels are also extremely short. All it takes to beat one stage is to survive for 60 seconds. Yes, few players will make it past 15 seconds on their first day of playing. But those 15 seconds represent a quarter of a stage, and there are only six stages to get through altogether. Completing the game will take most people between 20 to 40 hours, which is pretty close to the average for most video games. With that in mind, is it really that hard?

Game over? Begin! Your enjoyment, or pain (depending on your perspective) doesn't have to end when the game does! The patterns in the game aren't random, but the order in which they appear is. This keeps the game challenging and unpredictable, and adds a surprising amount of replay value. There is endless room for improvement, as reflected by the ever-increasing high scores on the world wide score board. Alternately, there is fun to be had by letting your friends try it, and watching them struggle as you did once.