Dodo Duckie feels like the work of a developer who couldn’t decide whether they wanted to make a 2D platformer or a 3D platformer, so they made both. At the same time. In one game.
Normally, you might read that and think that means they split the difference and made a 2.5D platformer. But not in this case: Dodo Duckie allows you to swap between perspectives, so that at any given time you can view the world as either a flat 2D surface or a full 3D world. It’s a pretty neat trick, made all the more impressive by the fact it’s a seamless switch from 2D to 3D and back again, requiring just the click of a button.
Adding to the impressiveness is that it’s also a puzzle-platformer, which means that you’re regularly expected to shift blocks around and solve puzzles. It’s kind of crazy to come across an area in 2D, switch to 3D and move everything around, and then switch back to 2D and have the environment around you instantly rearranged.
Mind you, this is also what makes Dodo Duckie surprisingly challenging (especially for a game where you play as a duck, you use collected coins to buy cute hats, and you can gently nudge sleeping capybaras out of your way). Because it matters where you’re standing when you switch from 2D to 3D or back again – if you put something in front of you in the 3D world, it’ll still be blocking you when you switch to 2D, even if it may not be visible. Likewise, occasionally the game requires you to run and jump in a straight line in the 2D world, but if you’re a little off-centre in the 3D world you’ll just go straight into a wall.
Truth be told, at times this can be awfully frustrating – and it doesn’t help that you can jump in 2D and break items in 3D, but you can’t jump in 3D or break items in 2D. But at the same time, that’s what makes Dodo Duckie so enjoyable. It may look all cute and cuddly, but that’s hiding the fact that it’s decently challenging too.
All of which adds up to make it very easy to recommend Dodo Duckie. It’s absolutely adorable and it’s got a neat gimmick, but it doesn’t just rest on those things to try to sell itself – it has gameplay that really delivers, too. It’s a neat, ambitious combination that’s a must-play for any platforming fan, regardless of how many dimensions you want the game to be in.
Solo Game provided us with a Dodo Duckie PC code for review purposes.
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