I recently had the chance to play the new 2D action-platformer, Klaus Lee – Thunderballs, on my Nintendo Switch. While this game may have just come out this past June, it’s definitely a throwback to the platformers of decades past, with its 8-bit aesthetic and retro soundtrack that hits you as soon as you’re on the main menu.
The game also hits you from the jump with plenty of content, with over 100 levels total for the gamer to unlock. The more levels you go, the more abilities you gain, such as Klaus’s jetpack to fly around and navigate, these tiny bombs to detonate obstacles in your way, and night vision goggles for when the levels get dark.
What comes with that, however, is facing tougher enemies, with different kinds of monsters to block your path and different elements in the levels’ environments to watch for.
I hate to admit this, but I was already beginning to struggle by level six, so you’ll be able to log a good amount of time strategizing and getting through these challenging levels.
Once you do eventually get through them all, or you just need to take a break after dying over and over, like I did, there’s a great level editor option available. It reminded me of when I had Super Mario Maker on my Wii U back in the day, as this was when I quickly realized that level building is not my forté; it took me 10 minutes to figure out where to place a pipe.
For those who are creative out there, you have plenty of options to put these levels together, and you can even play these user-created levels made by gamers around the world. For a game already stocked with 100 levels, it’s a very cool feature to make it a deeper experience for those who love the game’s style.
As much as I do like this 2D 8-bit style, I have played other games with a similar style that left a more memorable impression on me. The developers did their best to make all these levels feel unique from one another, but the gameplay did slowly become repetitive to me after a while. That being said, for a price point of $12.99, if you’re a fan of the platforming genre, there’s more than enough value here to get your money’s worth.
