Throwbacks to the simple good ol' days of gaming are all the rage these days, and publisher Raw Fury is at it again bringing the retro-influenced Uurnog Uurnlimited to the Switch eShop. The goal of the game is exceedingly simple - gather all of the different animals dispersed in the world. Getting to them, however, can prove to be quite the puzzle. The main hub world serves as a save point, and is basically a big room filled with doors. These doors need keys to be unlocked (as one would expect), and the only way to find them is to explore the various environments.



The look and feel of the environments is very unique. The games neon color scheme mixed with its funky character designs presents the player with a wacky/bizarre atmosphere, primed for exploring and discovering. The music feels just as intertwined and vibrant as the colors, with a very cool percussive drive changing as you hunt your way through each door's domain.



Similar to Super Mario Bros. 2, most of the time the player is solving puzzles by jumping on top of and picking up enemies or tools. Most enemies have a use for traversing the environments. Some serve as an explosion, some can shoot bullets of electricity or fire, and some can even help you fly through the air. Figuring out which does what is part of the fun here, helping you fully realize how this universe works. Some random NPCs also exist in the world and can either help you or bother you depending on what situation you are in.

Gems are also hidden throughout the land, and you can use them to buy numerous things at the different shops. I found that most things you can buy at these stores are usually located somewhere in the world, but when you know what you need and don't want to spend time retracing your steps these shops can help with that.

The main Save Room is an interesting part of the game, for while exploring around there are teleport stations you can use to send back items, animals or gems you encounter. This can help immensely, for if you die you lose all the money you've accumulated. Sending gems back to the hub serves as a sort of stockpile for using when you are revived, and can lead to interesting ways of playing and taking daring leaps.

You can hold up to 5 items at once, that is 4 in your supply (stored in each direction of the d-pad) and 1 on top of your head. Doors can be short or tall, and you won't be able to carry things into a short door without it being in your supply, so (to quote Mr. Fils-Aime) you may have to "clean the fridge out" before entering certain places. 


Some areas are cursed though, and in these spots you won't be able to place items in your supply. You can take them out, but after that most of the time you'll have to ditch them, so be careful. As you might imagine this is an integral part of the puzzle design, and can both leave you feeling hopeless and very satisfied when you finally figure it out. Sometimes when trying to capture an animal they may fall to their death or die by accidental explosion. When this happens, it seemed the only way to get them back was by dying and respawning, and as you can imagine, this can get quite frustrating. 



Although the game uses little books as micro-tutorials to help you learn the basics, there is still an aimless quality that could either attract or detract players to its style of game. As a definite throwback to classic games, Uurnog can feel a bit obtuse if the player is not fully enveloped in the gameplay. However, whenever I felt like I didn't know what to do I would just keep on exploring rooms and would find a beacon of direction to work towards, and never felt like I was completely lost. If retracing your steps in the same environments isn't up your alley, I would steer clear of this title. But if you can't get enough of old school exploration, trial and error and classic 2D puzzles, Uurnog Uurnlimited can provide you with an Uurnique experience.