Anduril

This should feel instantly familiar to those old enough to remember an old ZX Spectrum game called Kokotoni Wilf. Anduril is a high-resolution PD game by Markus Dheus from all the way back in 1986 and features a winged hero stuck inside a 2D world of object collecting. Like the Speccy game, this is a flick screen platformer which contains many well-designed rooms for us to explore on our item collect journey. Unfortunately, unlike Kokotoni Wilf, our hero cannot walk nor even touch the landscape scenery – doing so means an instant loss of a life!

Thankfully, he can put those wings to good use and manoeuvre in a similar fashion to a flappy bird. The controls are extremely simple: use the SHIFT key to fly with H + J turning you left or right. I imagine Anduril is beginning to sound rather easy? You couldn’t be more wrong and anyone that loves a challenge will certainly get that here. The first couple of screens are easy but it isn’t too long before the game’s true sadistic nature is exposed. Most of the map is made up of incredibly tight spaces with which to guide our hero. If that wasn’t tough enough, once gravity is factored in, Anduril soon becomes a distressing adventure for all but a calm and patient gamer. Indeed, very challenging.

The graphics are crisp and nicely detailed but I did sometimes notice odd issues with collision detection, which often worked in my favour so I shouldn’t complain too much! Sounds are almost non-existent with only a low-volume spot effect for an item pickup. However, I can live with annoying quirks if the gameplay measures up and (after mastering a vicious learning curve) it definitely does. Anduril is one seriously addictive game and I highly recommend!!