A kind of story which seems to have disappeared from movie theaters in recent years is kids getting whisked up into space to have wild adventures. Flight of the Navigator, The Last Starfighter, even Star Wars to an extent follows this kind of trope and these days they just don't happen as much. Thankfully Beyond Galaxyland is here to fix that, paying homage to these classic sci-fi stories with lashings of adventure RPG goodness on top.
RPGs it references. Just a quick look at it and you'll get Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Titan A.E. vibes. In of how it plays, you can definitely see Final Fantasy, Pokémon, and even a smidgen of classic platformers like Flashback or Prince of Persia at work.
You play as a high school student named Doug who's spirited away into space for a variety of adventures. Accompanying you is a gun-wielding guinea pig by the name of Boom Boom and a robot called Martybot as you fight against a universe-threatening menace known only as The End. It's a lot to put on a student's shoulders, but developer Sam Enright promises that along with big story beats there'll be plenty of laughs along the way too.
When on planets you'll be in a 2.5D adventure platform game, jumping and leaping your way around the expansive pixel art environments. When it's battle time it turns into something more familiar to party RPG fans. The Pokémon comparison comes in here, as you can capture creatures to use, utilizing their abilities to defeat foes. There are also hints at other minigames cropping up from time to time, such as sneaking through air vents in a top-down Metal Gear view or riding hover bikes in something akin to F-Zero.
If all that sounds like a lot, it is. Beyond Galaxyland is an incredibly ambitious game that aims to provide a true epic sci-fi planet-hopping adventure. Combining platforming, exploration, and RPG mechanics along with a galaxy-spanning storyline, and you're looking at a very meaty game indeed.
Beyond Galaxyland has a free Steam demo that's out now, you can head over to the game page to try it for yourself and make up your own mind.
You can also take a look at our recommendations for the best space games out there.
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