Reviewed on Nintendo Switch

Annalynn is one of those games that knows exactly what it is. It’s inspired by a few cherished classics including Pac-Man, Mario Bros., and Donkey Kong. Rather than just being a Pac-Man-like or Donkey Kong-like, though, it instead takes its influences and creates a fun, nuanced experience based on those inspirations. The end result is a fast, fun, and challenging arcade-platformer that’s easy to become enamored with.

Spelunking for Gold and Jewels

You play as the titular Annalynn, a treasure hunter who’s out looking for gold coins and gems. If you’re a Nintendo fan, maybe you’ve seen folks talking online about the “rise of the Wario-likes” a lot recently. While Annalynn loves her some shiny treasure, she’s hardly as sinister or greedy as Wario, though you’ll probably see some similarities. That said, to call Annalynn a straight-up Wario-like would be somewhat inaccurate, though not entirely untrue. Though just by looking at it, you’d probably be pressed to draw more of a comparison to something like Spelunky.

That’s where the Wario-ness of this title begins and ends, though. Sure, you have to collect all the treasure — something Wario would froth at the mouth to do — but the way the gameplay and controls feel is more in line with both Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong. The game feels closest to those arcade games — at least as far as the feel of movement and jumping are concerned. Each level requires you to move across a small room and collect every gold coin and gem.

Annalynn isn’t afraid to demonstrate its love of Pac-Man, either. You’ll be chased by enemy snakes — Randy, Handy, Candy, and Mike — who mimic the movements of Pac-Man’s ghost enemies. One hit by these guys, and you’ll have to start the level over, though any coins you collected won’t need to be picked up again. Oh, and those gems you can pick up along the way? Yeah, those work the same as Pac-Man’s Power Pellets. Snag one, and those snakes will turn around and run away from you. This is when you can touch them to defeat them.

Though there are only 16 levels, Annalynn isn’t without its challenge. You won’t be penalized too much for failing, and after you run out of lives, you can continue so long as you sacrifice half of your total high score. This makes completing the game very doable despite the light challenge that comes from actually completing the levels. If you’re looking for a more difficult experience, this setup might not be to your liking, but it still doesn’t take away from the absolute fun that’s had just by simply playing.

Arcade to Its Very Core

The pixel art, catchy music, and minimalist sound effects of Annalynn all combine to create a presentation that’s right in line with the game’s arcade influences. In both gameplay and style, this feels like something you should be dropping quarters into to play. Everything comes together quite nicely to provide a fun platformer that’ll take you back to the age of arcade cabinets.

Of course, the game is somewhat on the short side as it’ll likely take you about an hour or so to finish Annalynn. Even then, though, there are unlockable skins and characters that make it fun to revisit. There are also different cheats that you can enable that drastically change the way the game plays. These include speeding up movement, adding stage effects like darkness, unlimited jumps, and other quirky features.

As a Nintendo Switch game, Annalynn is an awesome bite-sized arcade-platformer that’s easy to jump into in short bursts. Its solid controls and gameplay make it a great deal of fun, and it’s just a lovely little experience that’s fun to return to when you’re in the mood for some simple arcade goodness.

Score: 8 out of 10

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