The platform genre is nearly as old as gaming itself. Over the decades, we’ve had a lot of games in the genre that feel very ‘samey’. Developer dietzribi and publisher Top Hat Studios have a new platformer out right now. But does Toodee and Topdee bring anything new to the genre, or is it just another title to throw on the pile?

“A cosmic turbulence caused the 2D Platformer and the Top-Down Puzzler dimensions to merge! Switch between Toodee and Topdee and their unique perspectives to overcome hard-as-nails challenges, solve mind-melting puzzles and defeat huge bosses.”

Toodee and Topdee is really two games in one, a platformer and a puzzle game, and the basic premise is easy. You control both (the titular) Toodee and Topdee with the aim being to get both of them to the level’s exit. Simple. Toodee lives in one dimension and Topdee in another. However, as the marketing blurb up there covered, these two dimensions have merged. Toodee’s 2D platforming world is now part of Topdee’s top-down puzzle-centric world, and visa versa. See, their names make sense.

With a touch of a button, you can switch between the two characters (and their perspectives) on the fly and you have to use both the platforming and puzzle elements to reach your goal of getting these fellas to the level’s exit. Use Toodee’s platforming skills to jump around and Topdee’s puzzle-solving skills in tandem, as you work as a one-person team (though you can play in 2-player if you wish).

The mechanics at play here really are quite ingenious as you swap between these two worlds. Let’s say you are playing as the platforming Toodee and you try to jump over a pit of spikes. Only, said spike pit is too big to clear. Instead of falling to your death, you tap the button to switch characters/world to Topdee’s, grab a block and place it under Toodee and switch back. This mechanics is used in a variety of ways including portals, covering holes, avoiding lasers, using drains/water and more.

Split over multiple worlds, with each world having its own personality, set of individual levels and even boss fights. Starting out relatively easy, by the time you reach world 4, your skills will be pushed to their limits as the platforming and puzzles get increasingly more devious.

Toodee and Topdee comes with a plethora of accessibility options that allow you to make the game as easy or difficult as you wish. You can add multiple hit points or go for a one-hit death run. Add the ability to allow Toodee to ‘air jump’, making the platforming far more simple, give Topdee telekinesis to grab and move items with ease. Really, the multitude of options here is brilliant and this makes the game open to anyone whatever your personal skill-set is. Hardcore gamers can enjoy Toodee and Topdee and ramp up the difficulty, just as much as a more casual gamer can with some tweaking of the options. You can even adjust the game’s speed if your reactions aren’t as good as they used to be.

Toodee and Topdee comes with a price tag of around £17 and is available now for PC and all of the consoles. For me, this is a must-play. It is basic, but utter genius with a depth of gameplay that is as simple as it is clever. The dual worlds of platforming and puzzle collide and create a wonderful title that I didn’t want to end. There’s a really nice level of humour through the game too and while the story is a bit ‘basic’, it does lead to a brilliantly satisfying conclusion that had me wanting more adventures with these two characters.

In short, get yourself a copy of Toodee and Topdee right now. It is one of the most genius platform-puzzlers that I have played in a long while. It is very easy to get into and offers a very fair difficulty curve. If you find things too tricky, take a peek at those accessibility options and tailor the game to suit your own playstyle. Or, really punish yourself and make the game much more difficult than it needs to be and see how long you can last before you start pulling your hair out.