Product Info

Platform

Switch, PC, iOS, Android

Publisher

Good Night Brave Warrior

Developer

Good Night Brave Warrior

Genre

Adventure, Platform, Puzzle

Players

1

File Size (Minimum)

229 MB

Release Date (NA)

Apr 5, 2018

Purchase From

eShop

Steam

Sling Ming is a puzzle-style adventure game that’s both challenging and satisfying. If you’ve played mobile games such as Angry Birds and Cut the Rope that utilize physics to complete each level, you will feel right at home here.

Lost Technology

Players control Princess Ming whose planet Topius is in jeopardy due to powerful earthquakes. Feeling obligated to solve the problem, Princess Ming stumbles upon an old transit technology underneath the palace called the Oxylane that once carried people across land when the planet was polluted. During transit, people would wear specialized suits to breathe fresh air, but now that the air has been cleansed, the Oxylane has been forgotten.

In addition to finding the Oxylane, Princess Ming and her royal advisor Iso also uncover a secret, locked vault that may uncover the truth behind the massive earthquakes. Fortunately, each of the locks on the vault have the coordinates of where each key is located in outer space, so with the Oxylane technology and the help of her friends, Ming travels across the universe to find the missing keys in order to open the vault and uncover the secrets of the past.

Connect and Go!

As you venture forth, you don’t actually control Ming’s movement. Instead, you’ll have to use your cursor to grab nodes, arrange the Oxylane path around obstacles, and then connect the nodes together. Once connected, Ming will automatically begin the transit and will only stop at the last node that’s not connected or when it’s time to move to the next stage.

Be aware that as you move across the Oxylane, obstacles such as falling rocks, hazardous liquid, and platforms with spikes will take out Ming in one hit, and if that happens, you’ll have to start the stage all over. At times, there’ll be a spot where Ming will get stuck and you will have no choice but to retry the stage. Luckily, the nodes you moved are still intact so you don’t have to re-do your work.

Collect and Go!

Once each stage is completed, you are tallied up on the length of time it took to complete the stage, how many coins were picked up, and how many itoms were collected. Each stage also offers a challenge list for players, which provides good replay value for those looking for 100 percent completion.

Itoms are necessary to collect as they will help unlock areas such as bosses on each planet. Since itoms can be difficult to nab, you can also use your coins to skip levels. Just don’t forget that you need to unlock each stage if you want to finish the game.

While playing, you’ll also find upgrades and power-ups that’ll help Ming along the way such as grab handles, throwing projectiles, and a speed boost on specific Oxylane lines. As if collecting itoms and coins wasn’t tough enough, the introduction of these aspects only serves to make the game even more challenging.

Smooth Beats

Sling Ming’s soundtrack is quite relaxing, smooth, and up-beat. While not memorable, it definitely works with each stage you encounter.

When you start playing, enjoy the opening credits. The way the typography integrates with the gameplay as if it’s an actual blockbuster movie is well done. As for the rest of the graphics, they’re big and vibrant but otherwise simplistic. However, you’ll be playing more for the puzzle challenge than the looks anyway.

Summary

Don’t let Sling Ming’s colorful graphics fool you; the game’s physics-based puzzles provide a true challenge to overcome, and you’ll find yourself wanting to replay them once you have. Show them who’s the true master of the Oxylane, your majesty!

A Nintendo Switch review code was provided by Good Night Brave Warrior for this review.