Platform game fans of a certain vintage will fondly remember a game simply called N, a flash game turned into a console title that soared thanks to the focus of the then sublime Xbox Live Arcade, and Bionic Bay is the closest to that N+ experience we’ve had that I can recall.
While the visual style couldn’t be more opposite, Bionic Bay features a small humanoid shaped man traversing around barren environments with floaty yet tight platform controls. Where Bionic Bay differs, however, is that it adds in puzzle elements that’ll have you scratching your head before the eureka moment in a manner more befitting of Valve’s Portal series.
There’s more afoot in Bionic Bay that meets the eye. A short opening scene sets the scene, but truthfully, even with the lore drops throughout in the form of digitised diaries you will encounter along the journey, this is an experience where the movement is front and centre.
Starting out simply enough, there’s a dodge roll into a jump, followed by a second press of the roll button that will grant you absurd acceleration into a full on dive. This makes some of the more advanced (huge) jumps you’ll have played before in other titles feel like bunny hops. Vast gaps will be surmountable with this technique long before the precision comes into play (but note: it does), and other ideas are introduced.
It’s difficult to sum up how Bionic Bay feels. It’s both tight, yet floaty. It’s an oxymoron in that respect, but it does feel good. There’s some hilarious ragdoll features thanks to the way you can throw your little guy around, and the trophy for exploding 50 times will likely be grabbed before you’re even close to finishing the first part of the game. Remember those sections in N+ where a rocket would be endlessly chasing you until you found the solution to the room? That’s the sort of thing that is mixed in with the puzzle solving and platform sections here.
There’s a heavy focus on physics, throughout. Your little platforming dude will have weight, and landing on some floating objects will cause them to drop. Moving around a laser that was leaning at an angle will cause it to fall and the laser will then fire off at you, so you’ll always need to be aware of the physics of the game, which can and do change now and then. You will die a lot, but the loading is near-instant, removing most of the frustration from the trial and error sections, too.
That’s not all there is, but I’m going to intentionally omit numerous ideas because they’re such a nice surprise: just know that some of them are magnificent. The first skill you’ll learn, though, is “transport”. You can attach a small object to other objects with the square button, then swap places with it. This very quickly becomes a fundamental crutch for puzzle solving. Maybe a laser will destroy you, and there’s no way through. But what if you tagged a box, then swapped places with it just as you’re about to be lasered? That way, the box is now a shield above your head. These ideas are developed naturally as the difficulty and adventure progress, and it’s a textbook example of well-designed progression. The puzzles are almost entirely excellent, and make you feel clever for solving them.
The one issue with the platforming is that (and your mileage may vary) there are just a few too many “gotcha” style deaths. I’m all for trial and error in games like these, and I do believe mastering them with practice and skill is a hugely rewarding experience. Some of the more precise sections feel harsh when you fail, but thankfully that’s not too regular an occurrence. Sometimes the gorgeous visuals might mask an obstruction, or sometimes the minimalist yet painterly aesthetic might be a little unclear as to what an object is, causing a random explosion. Some levels are harsher than others, but no single level outstays its welcome, and you can easily grab your PS Portal or Steam Deck and play a few levels if you are short on time, which is a welcome though.
The audio and visual design is beautiful. Sparse yet alive, Bionic Bay feels mysterious thanks to the architecture throughout. It has a fantastic “destroyed beauty” look to it. The variety of locations is nice, and there are numerous hazards and movement ideas on offer. You’ll quickly become familiar with things like an orange beam that will kill you, but what about those green beams: what do they do? Despite the hands-off approach to storytelling, the world is such that you’ll want to keep going. There is enough here through the visual progression alone that makes you want to see the end.
Like in N+, Bionic Bay has an online mode that lets you play daily challenges to get the fastest time. These online levels, again, use a variety of visual designs, and mix up the mechanics that you learn through the main story campaign. It’s a huge bonus to have such a good online mode like this, and it could breathe life in the game for a long time to come.
Bionic Bay is a superb physics platform game with a beautiful visual design, and clever puzzles within. While it might pose too steep a challenge for some, those who adored games like Super Meat Boy or N+ will find a welcome home here. Some of the precision sections feel slightly out of place in a platformer with this type of locomotion, but that can’t spoil an otherwise excellent overall experience.
