Big Hops Review - The Year's First Great Game Is Mario Meets Breath Of The Wild

"Hop is a little frog with big dreams. He wants to explore life outside his forest, and his call to adventure is rewarded with the unexpected ability to leapfrog between worlds and even dimensions. Luckshot Games, the developer and publisher of Big Hops, appears to be similarly ambitious, if this game is any indication. Big Hops is a modest 3D platformer that takes on some of the biggest in the industry, on their own turf, with confidence and poise."

"Hop's movement and (ahem) hops feel reminiscent of how Mario moves in Super Mario Odyssey, even including a belly slide that you can use to keep your forward momentum going. But on top of that, it layers in a few other elements. You can wall-run like in Prince of Persia or Titanfall. You can climb any wall a la Zelda: Breath of the Wild, complete with a stamina meter that determines how long you can cling to a surface."

"Before long, Hop meets Diss, a strange extradimensional imp with a snarky attitude and questionable motivations. Diss spirits Hop away to The Void, a bridge between realms where gravity is strange and twisting upon itself. I couldn't help but be reminded of the flexible gravity system of Super Mario Galaxy, as Hop made a jump and suddenly landed upside-down with a changed perspective, but by this time the natural movement felt so smooth that the shift was easy to navigate."

Hop is a little frog who seeks life beyond his forest and gains the ability to leap between worlds and dimensions. Movement centers on joyous traversal, including belly slides, wall-running, climbing with a stamina meter, a grappling frog-tongue, and momentum-based platforming. The game echoes controls and mechanics from Super Mario Odyssey, Prince of Persia, Titanfall, Breath of the Wild, and Super Mario Galaxy through flexible gravity sections in The Void. An extradimensional imp named Diss transports Hop through twisting-gravity realms that flip perspectives. The overall tone balances ambition with modest design, delivering smooth, connected movement that often succeeds despite occasional shortcomings.

Read at GameSpot