Ruffy and the Riverside Review
3D platformer Ruffy and the Riverside charms with its novel texture-swapping mechanics.
Ruffy and the Riverside. Zockrates Laboratories / Phiphen Games
Ruffy and the Riverside from Zockrates Laboratories and Phiphen Games is a weird, wonderful throwback to the 32 and 64-bit 3D platformers of the late 1990s, evoking classics like Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, and Tomba!, while building on them with a unique core mechanic that I don’t think I’ve seen before. As Ruffy, you’re able to scan textures of objects you see and paste them on other surfaces, fundamentally reshaping the world around you in creative ways to solve puzzles.
Ruffy channels those classic PS1 and N64 games with its sprawling levels full of secrets, collectibles, and odd characters. Like those other games, you can run, jump, attack, etc., but the swap system makes it feel fresh. Need to get to the top of a waterfall? Copy a vine texture and paste it over the falling torrent of water, and then you’re able to climb it. Freeze a pool by pasting ice, or turn it into a lake of lava. Solve puzzles by changing up arrows to down arrows, or by pasting a heavy metal texture over a light hay texture. It’s all very fun and intuitive.
Other gameplay elements are brief 2D puzzle levels, and hay bale racing. I didn’t care much for the 2D segments; you have to use your swap ability from outside to solve them, which took me a little time to figure out. However, they feel superfluous overall and lack the charm of the rest of the game. Riding hay bales is a blast, and you can do it outside of the race and speed around Riverside.
Ruffy and the Riverside. Zockrates Laboratories / Phiphen Games
The art combines a 3D, cartoonish world with flat, hand-drawn character sprites that look like paper cutouts. Every texture appears to have been drawn with markers, and moving surfaces, such as water, have animation cycles that are only two or three frames long, giving everything a sketchy look that feels distinct from the ones in similarly hand-drawn games. Ruffy is a bear, his companion is a bee, his mentor is a mole, and you’ll meet other animals and creatures as well, all vibrantly rendered in bright colors. The game’s music is great, but the sound design is a little grating. I wish there was a way to turn off Ruffy’s vocal sound effects; the game goes a little overboard with this.
Ruffy and the Riverside. Zockrates Laboratories / Phiphen Games
Overall, the game is a great time that’ll last you around 12 hours, depending on how much of a completionist you are. Most puzzles aren’t too hard to solve, and many offer hints to help if needed, but it was fun to explore and experiment to figure things out. If you’re looking for some breezy, nostalgic fun with a twist, definitely check this game out.
Ruffy and the Riverside is available on PC (Steam / Epic), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One / Series X|S.
Overall Score: 8/10
Played on: PS5
