VVVVVV

Importantly, Cavanagh keeps throwing new ideas in, twisting VVVVVV's already two-sided world into new shapes. Pixel-thin fields that reverse gravity are used as trampolines and slingshots; wraparound rooms become mazes with no entrance, or infinite loops that scroll past your eyes like interference on an old analogue TV. Sometimes you'll have to lead a hapless, gravity-bound crew-member around. Over its short length, VVVVVV never gets old, squeezing every drop of potential from its mind-bending reorientation of platforming, a Mario Galaxy in microcosm.

This homebrew production isn't quite a match for the platforming masters in terms of finesse, however. Speed is a key element of its stringent difficulty, and the Captain moves blindingly fast and strictly digitally, with not much sense of momentum or physical contact. Precise control of him would be beyond most input devices this side of a professional arcade stick - certainly a humble keyboard - and sometimes his twitchiness, that vital microsecond of lag as your clumsy fingers pound the plastic, breaks the close bond that you need between player and platform-game hero.

Moments of such unfair frustration are extremely rare in VVVVVV, though, which, considering its difficulty, is a great achievement. In the course of a three-hour playthrough I died one thousand times, but only once got properly, maddeningly, just-can't-go-on stuck (for those who've already played the game: it was "Do as I say... not as I do," which coincidentally is the only screen in the whole game the Captain isn't smiling for). VVVVVV's tough, but it's designed to be enjoyed and completed, not to punish or defeat players. Its difficulty is actually perfectly pitched, and eased by periods of downtime as you explore the generally peril-free space around the space station levels, rooting out your next way in.

What's also remarkable - and much harder to explain - is how atmospheric and full of character VVVVVV manages to be with the most basic audiovisual resources. Much of the credit goes to Magnus Palsson's brilliant soundtrack, which transcends its coarse chiptune stylings in some genuinely rich, evocative and exciting electronic music that perfectly matches the game's retro-futurism.

There's also the fact that, for the most part, VVVVVV is played straight. It has its moments of indie quirk, with hazards composed of the words LIES and TRUTH bouncing around, but it has no pretensions to be anything other than a sci-fi adventure and a rip-roaring videogame. In that context, the simple exclamations of the script, the barely visible two-frame animation and the blocky graphical shorthand give it a sort of naïve purity, and the Captain's idiotically permanent grin in the face of the death of a thousand deaths becomes - in your head, at least - an expression of indomitable heroism. Somehow, this childish cipher becomes a great game character you'll feel real affection for.