Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo Review

Grab your Pocket Trap Game System and pop in the Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo cartridge to jump into this 2D top-down adventure. This game looks like it was released for the Game Boy Advance, with a vibrant and pixelated look. Developed by Pocket Trap — thus the name of the fake console you are playing on — and published by PM Studios, get ready for this retro-inspired yoyovania (coined by the developer, not me). Will this game capture the magic of titles like Legend of Zelda and Startropics on the NES, or will it feel dated, like it should remain in the past?

When you begin the game, the story starts at Pipistrello Industries; this does not seem like a happy place, based on the ominous-sounding music playing. We learn that this company is the leading provider of electricity in New Jolt City. They have discovered the energetic properties of the wild Denquinellia rose; its extract is the most efficient (and lucrative) form of electricity generation. Because of this discovery, Pipistrello has crushed the competition, becoming the sole energy provider, allowing them to raise their prices to ridiculously high levels. Even the biggest businesses can't keep up with the unfair pricing.

We then see a taxi with our protagonist, Pippit, the red-eyed blue bat. His most prized possession is a limited-edition yo-yo; it looks fancy, and it's even sparkling! Pippit’s dream is to become a yo-yo champion and perform in front of millions of people. We learn, through a conversation he has with a taxi driver, that he is a member of the Pipistrello family that we met in the intro.

As soon as the taxi stops at Pipistrello Industries, we get to learn how to control Pippit and use his handy yo-yo to attack and smash objects. The unique thing is that there are bumpers placed around the different areas that you explore, which you can bounce your yo-yo off of, letting you get to areas that you wouldn’t expect to be able to reach and hit enemies that happen to be standing in the way. It can also be used to grab items like coins and keys and bring them back to you.

Once you enter the mansion — the home of your rich aunt, known as Madame Pipistrello — she runs the family business. A gang of animals, angry about the outrageous energy prices, breaks into the house and confronts the Madame, using a special energy extraction machine they suck energy out of her to fill their Mega-Batteries. Pippit interrupts the energy stream with his yo-yo. This act causes his aunt to fuse with it; she is dismayed at the fact that she has been turned into a useless toy. The two are forced to work together to take down these gang members to try to retrieve the batteries and return her to her original form.

Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo takes place in New Jolt City, so the dungeons you encounter won’t be in caves or locations like the usual adventure-type games you have played, but instead at locations like a football field, construction zone, or even a cosplay convention. This change of location makes it totally new and fresh. You will use the sewers to get past blocked streets, and you have to be careful when you are crossing the street because vehicles will not hesitate to hit you. The one bonus is that any enemies that get in their way will also get hurt.

You can explore the whole city and go after the four bosses in any order you would like. You will meet many eclectic NPCs; some are just silly, while others ask you to retrieve items for them in exchange for rewards. It is not required that you do these little side quests, but if you do, everything will be marked on your handy map, so you don’t need to worry about trying to remember where everything is located. The map is also incredibly useful when you are in a dungeon, as it will show the locations that you have explored so far, like which areas were locked and where you saw keys that you will need to retrieve to open those locks. There are a lot of puzzles to solve in Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo, so having the map to reference helps you strategies.

As you explore the city, you will run into some of your cousins, who will help you on your journey. The first is Pepita; she will set up upgrade contracts — this is essentially a skill tree. She will hang out in the Safe House, which is your home base. When you choose to get an upgrade, since she's a germaphobe, you can’t just give her the money you currently have. You are instead indebted to her, and she will keep 50% of the coins that you pick up, and the upgrade will have a negative effect until it is paid off. Once the contract is paid off, she will remove that curse, which usually temporarily takes away one heart of your overall HP. If you find it too difficult to pay off and not worth the negative effect, you can return it to her for a portion of your money back.

If you get to an area that you find too challenging, don’t quit playing — the game has a selection of difficulty settings you can change to make it more manageable. If you go into the settings menu and go to Difficulty, you can make changes to the amount of damage you take, how strong you are, how much health and money you get from defeated foes, along with how many coins you lose when you die. There are many things you can tweak or alter to get it to your preferred challenge setting. These settings can be changed at any time, so you can always change them back to default if you want more of a challenge once you get through a difficult area — though these options mainly affect your HP, not the difficulty of the puzzles themselves.

I have been having an awesome time playing Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo. Having a yo-yo as your main weapon that allows you to pull off moves like “walk the dog” and “around the world” was so fun. Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo is a great blend of puzzles, platforming, and adventure that feels like it belongs on the Game Boy Advance or Super Nintendo. It’s challenging, especially as you progress in the story, but with settings that you can change to soften the difficulty, you are sure not to get stuck. My only issue is that the upgrade contracts seem to only lower the amount of points required to use specific moves — not really make them stronger. Besides this one little complaint, Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo is a must-play game. It looks and sounds amazing, plus you get to ricochet your yo-yo around the room! I hope we get to see a sequel to this awesome title.