99

Game: 99

Developer: rxi

Platform: PC/Mac/Linux

Download Link: https://rxi.itch.io/99

Some of my favorite games to play off of itch.io are sometimes the more simple games. Nothing jaw-dropping in aesthetic (though I do enjoy those) or super innovative (and I enjoy those as well), just a straightforward game with simple controls and simple execution. For those who are familiar with my earlier endeavor when I covered microgames (before I yeeted it out of existence), 99 was the first game I covered. It was also a time I used a rating system for covering microgames, something I heavily regret doing in hindsight. But nonetheless, I decided to revisit a little "old friend" to help me get through some stressful times.

99 is a game where your goal is to roam a pixelated world and collect 99 coins while avoiding enemies like killer bunny people and ghosts. Collect all the coins, and you beat the game. Simple as that. Such is the beauty of simplicity. Now, you may be wondering, dear reader, why on Earth would I go to the trouble of looking at a simple game such as this? Wouldn't you want to look at something more complex in developer rxi's catalog of games, like Toastbear or Shuriken? To you I say, well, I would like to talk about those games at some point, but I want to get this one out of the way? Why? Well, because I like it a lot.

99 is a very nice looking microgame, with its nice pixelated graphics and simple, yet charming animation and designs. The character you control is what I believe to be a flightless bird. I could be wrong, but the super minute details aren't always that important. This game was made for Low Rez Jam 2016, and it looks really well polished for using the 64x64 resolution. It looks very much like a game on a portable system, like a Game Boy Color, which, while I'm not sure was the intentional approach of the developer, but it does sort of look that way.

Controlling your character is super simple; you use the arrow keys to move and X (or up arrow key) to jump. Essentially, you can play this game with one hand. What do you do with the other hand? Well, your guess is as good as mine. Read a book, eat a snack, file your taxes, fap (not recommended), a whole myriad of different tasks, I suppose. If there is anything I could really criticize about this game, it's the screen being zoomed in a little too much. It sometimes obstructs your view to what comes next, and you have little to no time to react. But, it doesn't detract from the overall experience too much.

I love how simple this game is. It definitely hearkens back to a more simple time of gaming where games weren't super complex or super long. Sometimes, when I want to play a game, I don't always want to embark on an epic adventure, do really complex inputs, or "git gud". Sometimes I just want to sit down and play a straightforward, blunt experience that is short, simple, and to the point. Overall, 99 fits that description and it still holds a special place in my itch.io game collection as one of my first, and favorite, games I've played on the platform. Give it a whirl for yourself.