Intrepid Izzy Review

Interpid Izzy is a 2D platformer where players, as Izzy, will punch and jump their way through a world where all levels are intertwined; think of it as a Metroidvania-lite clone where backtracking isn’t much of a necessity unless you venture too far.

As you progress through each area, you’ll pick up purple diamonds which will slowly fill up a meter next to Izzy’s health. The meter will allow Izzy to use a special attack which is basically a poor man’s version of a Hadoken from Street Fighter. Even what she yells when shooting the fireball sounds extremely suspiciously like Hadoken. The combat is very simple and lacks any depth. Thankfully, you can pick up additional costumes to give Izzy different power-ups.

One nice little feature is the map. It’s pretty clear to see where you’re at and use it for exploration. If for example, you locate a blocked path, the game does a decent job to leave a bookmark on the map so you can have a reminder later on; once you’ve acquired the necessary item to progress. You can also easily spot the fast travel point to easily navigate through the different areas.

The game has two minor, albeit very annoying, issues. The first is when jumping, you better accept where you’re going to land because you can’t realign your jump once Izzy’s feet leave the floor; unlike the seamless and fluid jumping in other platformers such as Super Mario Bros. games. The other issue if you enter a room and want to return to the same door, you actually need to leave the screen and return because the game won’t let you immediately go back in the same door you came in.

Intrepid Izzy does feature a beautifully colored hand-drawn visual design that makes each area bright and uniquely designed. Enemy design is surprisingly decent given the limited range of the game. Bosses are actually well-designed in their unique styling. The soundtrack is ok at best. It’s a nice, upbeat score that sounds like a stock soundtrack purchased from a generic music website such as soundtrackyourbrand.com.

I hate pigeon-holing things, but even before I started writing the review, I knew this was a Ratalaika Games published venture: short, rough around the edge, boring and shallow. While new additions to the 2D platforming genre are always a welcomed thing, this feels like it wants to be a cheap version of the excellent Shantae series. While the boss fights are actually pretty fun, the combat is repetitive and boring. Unless you’ve finished every other 2D platfomers available on Xbox Marketplace, this is an easy pass.