Imagine that Rise & Shine (a 2D side-scrolling shoot ’em up) and Guacamelee! (a 2D side-scrolling action platformer) had a baby. That’s the best way to describe SkyKeepers. The game is a 2D platforming title that pays homage to the old retro days in ways, but delivers it in a modern package reminiscent of several 2D platformers this generation. While challenging at times, SkyKeepers keeps you hooked and I had a blast playing it.
You begin the game playing as a young boy. You defiantly follow your father into the jungle and are determined to prove yourself a man. The story takes a tragic turn quickly and you spend the rest of the game playing as Tangi, the village chief. SkyKeepers focuses on his experiences rebuilding the village to its former glory and how he comes to term with what happened. The game requires a lot of skill, especially when it focuses on traversing open spaces because using special abilities is the key to success.
The core gameplay of SkyKeepers is rather simple. You are tasked with maneuvering through the dangerous environments and killing everything that moves. Sounds simple, right? Wrong! The combat can be rather challenging. Enemies are brutal and you must master your whole suite of attacks if you want to survive. My one complaint with the gameplay is more focused on the level design. The levels are broken up into “rooms” and each one usually has a batch of enemies to kill. If you make it four rooms in and die, you respawn at the beginning of the level.
This doesn’t seem like much, but after playing for a few hours, I found that it detracted from the experience. Granted, there is one checkpoint at the middle of the level, but when the final battle of the level is challenging and you must walk all the way back several times, it kills it. Games like Shovel Knight are also brutally difficult but they have a much more lenient checkpoint system. SkyKeepers desperately needs that.
Aside from that, the art and sound design are top notch. There are several distinct “worlds” that contain several levels in them. The visuals look like concept art and are locked at 1080p 60 FPS. Each world has a different theme and introduces new gameplay mechanics, like the dropping platforms in the second environment. The music is rather catchy and I found myself humming along for a good chunk of the time.
SkyKeepers is a great game but it doesn’t do anything to advance the genre. It takes ideas from a lot of platformers and incorporates them into a great package but there isn’t a lot of creativity on display in my opinion. Had the combat been a little more complex and the levels a little larger, it would’ve elevated the experience. The title plays it safe and that might be its biggest problem. Don’t get me wrong, SkyKeepers is fun and polished, but it’s not completely new and mind-blowing. In order to stand out on consoles, you have to give gamers something they’ve never played before. This game doesn’t do that even though it’s so technically sound.
Summary
If you love 2D platformers that offer challenging gameplay, then SkyKeepers is perfect for you. Priced at $15, it offers great value and an enjoyable experience. With colorful environments, a good soundtrack, and an interesting story, SkyKeepers is a great addition to any gamer’s library. I just wish it stood out more by offering us gameplay elements we haven’t experienced before.
Jonathan was a regular ICXM contributor between 2015–2017, publishing 57 articles across opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative. They post on X as @jtainsworth13.