A game can grab our attention for a plethora of different reasons. Sometimes it’s a captivating story, other times an interesting game mechanic, but for me and Fox n Forests, it was hands down the gorgeous pixel art. To my delight not only is it visually stunning, but the ability to change the season helps keep level design fresh and interesting. However a limited number of stages and progression being gated behind revisiting stages for collectables puts a damper on things.

Fox n Forests is a love letter to classic 16-bit platformers and that really shines through not only visually, but also how it plays. Taking control of a greedy fox, you cut a deal to help out the Season Tree and are sent on your way to find three magical pieces of bark to restore his power. Luckily the Season Tree bestows the magic melee crossbow upon the fox as well as the ability to change the seasons. The crossbow fires different types of arrows to take enemies out, but also doubles as your melee weapon, as the name implies. A small blade attached to the end allows the fox perform a few different moves including a low ground sweep and an aerial attack for the harder to reach enemies. Eventually new moves can be purchased to take advantage of your double jump in conjunction with an attack giving you more ways to wreak havoc.

More or less combat and traversal feels pretty familiar to staples of the genre, not really breaking any new ground, but that’s where the ability to change seasons comes in. With the press of a button the entire environment shifts seasons, opening up new possibilities. By changing the season from spring to winter, bodies of water freeze over unlocking a way to the other side not there a second ago or by changing spring to fall, large leafs fall and act as platforms. These are just a few ways they play with changing of seasons, but I found them to be clever especially when it came to boss fights. Each level is tied to two seasons, so you won’t be able freely change between any season, but only the two the developers choose. I would have been interested to see how playing with multiple season changes would have worked because more often than not the mechanic would be used in a similar fashion throughout each stage. While it’s almost always beneficial to change the season, it comes at the cost of your magic meter, so it’s always important to be diligent with using it. Outside of changing season, Fox n Forests doesn’t do much to set itself apart from others in the genre, but does everything well.

I found the level design to be interesting for the most part especially considering how long each level is, but the unfortunate thing is that there are just not that many levels to begin with. Each season has two stages before a boss battle before moving to the next area. There is a bonus stage per season, but requires you collect all the seeds within the first two stages. This lead to replaying the level multiple times especially since certain seeds are gated behind abilities you only learn after completing future seasons. But that isn’t the only thing gated behind finding seeds, you actually need a certain amount to move on to the next season regardless if you already beat the boss and collected the piece of bark. Fortunately replaying the level will always net you more money, which can be used to purchase upgrades to your health and magic meter, new abilities, and even potions for temporary boosts. I found it very satisfying to unlock new abilities making once tough enemies to deal with a cinch. The challenge is tough even on the normal difficulty, but with a number of checkpoints along the way, ones which you’ll need to fork over some coins to activate, you’ll never have to backtrack too far.

I opened this review commenting on how the visuals are what drew my attention, so obviously they’re something I knew I’d enjoy. But I was continuously surprised at just how much attention to detail there was and the wide array of colors used throughout. It was never more apparent than when switching between seasons, turning a beautiful spring day to a frozen tundra in the mere press of a button. On occasion, an enemy would get stuck on a nonexistent plane during a season switch and while certainly not excusing it, it almost added to the authentic retro feel. And speaking of those enemies, I really loved their designs. The chiptune music isn’t as memorable as the pixel art, but does help to cement the nostalgic feeling.

The Fox n Forests developers set out to create something that both looks and feels right out of the 16-bit era and it’s safe to say they accomplished just that. Not only did they deliver a truly breathtaking rendition of the classic art style, but also introduced an interesting mechanic to the already familiar style of play. There were some choices I didn’t love, mainly having to revisit levels numerous times to continue forward. And while it certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it hits the sweet spot for those looking to go on a nostalgia trip.