Goodboy Galaxy Review

Welcome to space! Goodboy Galaxy may look like your typical adventure, but it has quite an interesting history. It started as a Kickstarter project for a game that was going to be released to play on the Game Boy Advance handheld. The title was successfully funded, and after the physical release of the game, as of the 25th of October 2024, it is now available to play on Steam. I am curious to see how Goodboy Galaxy will play since it is restrained by the limitations of a GBA cartridge.

You are playing as Maxwell the dog, who is obviously incredibly smart as he can fly a spaceship! While speaking to Cropett, a black cat in a frog costume, they are suddenly fired on by a hostile ship. This attack sends our hero’s ship careening to the world below. While falling through the sky, we are taken to the surface of the planet, where we meet the professor (who looks like a floating brain) enjoying his lunch outdoors. The observatory he works at has picked up on the action going on in space; the professor thinks that this must be space debris, and as he walks away to retrieve the salad he forgot inside. Just as he walks away, Maxwell’s ship crashes into his picnic table.

Somehow, Maxwell survives the crash and crawls out of the wrecked ship; this is where we take control. I tried out the default controls set in the game that had you jumping with B (the right face button) and shooting with the A (the bottom face button). Having it set this way didn’t feel natural for me, so I paused the game and went into the options to swap them to what I felt were the correct buttons: A for jump and X (the left face button) to fire your gun. Considering the game was developed for the GBA, it makes sense why the controls were that way, as you only have the B and A buttons to use.

Now that the controls have been fixed, let's return to the story. The professor is surprised that Maxell isn’t dead, based on his grasp of physics. The special thing that saved Maxwell is the shield he has that encircles him to protect him. Fortunately, the professor has an assistant named Clunkee, who looks like an ape. He is given the task of fixing the mess that Maxwell made when he crash-landed, hitting the planet’s observatory. Our hero feels awful for all the destruction that he has caused, so he asks if there is anything he can do to help with the repairs. Clunkee needs some spare parts, so Maxwell offers to explore the area to pick up these three items that he needs.

Goodboy Galaxy offers three different difficulties to select from: Easy, Normal, or Hard. Like the controls, these can be changed at any time, which is incredibly useful, as chances are you expected this game to be quite simplistic based on the visuals, so you may be surprised how challenging the gameplay is in this title. Each of the planets that you visit has three different gates that Maxwell must pass through. The thing is, when you go through a gate, one of your three primary items will be taken away like your blaster, jet pack, or your shield; adding a whole new level of challenge. If you don’t have your jet pack, you can still jump, but not very high.

Taking away the shield means that you have nothing to protect yourself from hazardous terrain, and if any enemy hits you, then you are dead and sent back to the last checkpoint. And finally, having no blaster leaves you defenceless and open to being hit. The only way you get your ability back is to clear that area and reach the next gate; at that point you will lose a different one. Once all three gates are cleared, you will have everything back, and you can progress normally. This mechanic will force you to think strategically, as it can become quite challenging when you have lost one of these skills!

While you are exploring and unlocking new worlds, it will require a lot of travelling back and forth between the planets. There is a map that has indicators that will show you when you should revisit one of these planets to do something new. This helps to make it feel like you always have an idea by gently guiding you to where you need to go to progress the story. If it isn’t that clear to you, then just explore; there are a lot of different areas that you can revisit once again.

Visiting these different locations, you will meet a collection of whimsical characters that need your help with a task. There is a frog couple who have been separated by falling rocks on the mountain, a gator who needs an item that will make him look tougher and stronger, and a ghost mum who has lost her four little ghost babies and needs help finding them. These characters aren’t in the story for a long time, but through the few sentences of dialogue they have, you learn a lot about their personalities and how different the locations are on the different planets in this galaxy. They didn’t feel like useless fetch quests that I was forced to do; I wanted to help these characters out.

Goodboy Galaxy looks best when played on a small screen like on a Steam Deck because it was made for a tiny portable handheld. When on a large screen like a TV or monitor, you can really see the rough pixels on the characters and in the worlds. The game is full of vibrant colours and fun themes for each planet you visit. Along with the fun visuals, the soundtrack in the game matches the theme of the place you are visiting, whether it be the beach or a jungle planet.

Besides travelling the galaxy to collect parts and items, Goodboy Galaxy focuses on something incredibly wholesome: making friends. You can befriend 67 different characters by sharing the same love of a kind of food, by completing a quest for them, by completing a surfing challenge, or just because they like you and want you to be your friend. When a friendship is made, you will get a card with a profile of your new bestie and what their life goal is.

Goodboy Galaxy is a wholesome and challenging game that uses a new gameplay mechanic to really switch things up by stealing one of the three abilities you have. There were times when I would die over and over again until I figured out the correct timing to avoid an enemy so I wouldn’t get hit when I didn’t have a shield to protect me or when I fell into a pit of acid because I didn’t have my jump ability. If you are a fan of platforming games full of exploration, entertaining characters, and unique mechanics, Goodboy Galaxy is a title to check out. Just be prepared to do a lot of backtracking to planets that you have visited before!