Nostalgia drives a lot of indie titles, whether it’s horror games evoking PS1 graphics or 3D platformers capturing the feel of an N64 game. A particularly untapped area from the early 2000s era of gaming is the Game Boy Advance, a plucky little handheld that helms tons of hidden gems past Pokemon and tried some really neat stuff with a considerable boost over the original Game Boy. One such franchise was the Wario Land games, a spinoff of the Mario Land titles that preceded it. We saw great success with Pizza Tower, but Antonblast is finally here to shout and stomp its way into your hearts. Is it worth picking up?

A game so full of charm and oozing with style, Antonblast‘s presentation is so evocative and vibrant that anyone who even peeks at a trailer for a few seconds will grasp what developer Summitsphere was going for. Previously showing a version of the titular protagonist in Antonball Deluxe, a well-received platformer, Antonblast puts Anton in a scrappier, more boisterous role as he readies his hammer and prepares to sprint through tight 2.5D levels packed with enemies and hazards along the way.

Controls are the name of the game in Antonblast, as the tried-and-true “easy to learn, hard to master” adage applies here in a big way. Scrolling the screen is more than just running and jumping; you’ll have to nail sliding, slide-jumping, melee-jumping, and more to reach far-away platforms. You’ll also have to gauge your speed so as not to run into any green barrels or run into attacking enemies. This is a very challenging game with unforgiving checkpoints that will demand you learn its levels to a T, as with only three hearts, each death will require you to learn from your mistakes and get a bit farther. Once you finally reach a new checkpoint, though, it’s a massively rewarding feeling of accomplishment.

Anyone who held a Game Boy Advance in their hands growing up will be able to pick up Antonblast and feel its familiar territory. Even for the most weathered platform kings, there are extremely-tough par times and hidden-away collectibles for each level that will necessitate learning optimal paths and have players playing them again and again to reach them. Great gameplay rewards one of many skins; I was scrolling through the skin list and it felt comical how long it went on, showing that flair is the incentive for adept Antons.

One look through the reviews on Antonblast and you’ll see the same few words: “hard”, “tough”, and essentially any synonym to those words. It truly is no pushover, as I felt stuck at some points, but realized I would have to go about it a different way. With some trial-and-error, I figured out how to make it through levels with the skin of my teeth. I cherish a good challenge, and Antonblast is just that for platformer fans far and wide. At $19.99 with about a dozen hours of gameplay depending on your skill level, this is an instant classic worth picking up again and again.

A PC review copy of Antonblast was provided by Summitsphere for this review.