Ciro Express Demo

Even if platformers look relatively simple at a glance, they are quite difficult to make, especially if you want the game to be both enjoyable and challenging at the same time. The controls must be precise and as accurate as possible, while the levels require a combination of well-placed traps and gorgeous backgrounds for the players to gaze at in the meantime.

Ciro Express is a 2D platformer with colorful graphics and rather slow-paced gameplay mechanics, in which you play the role of a pizza boy by the name of Ciro. In short, the goal is to explore a variety of locations around Italy and collect all sorts of recipes for your upcoming pizzeria. Obviously, the journey is not as simple as you might think, because everything seems to be working against you.

The main character doesn’t appear to have any kind of special abilities, given the fact that all you can do is run and jump over obstacles. It is also possible to crouch and avoid certain traps, but it’s not always obvious when you are supposed to jump and when to crouch. Thus, you’ll die a lot just because of the trial and error approach, which is not ideal in a platformer.

Ciro Express feels a lot slower than regular platformer, which is especially visible when it comes to controls and the way your character reacts to input. The jumps are long and slow, which makes it annoying to calculate your trajectory and avoid moving obstacles. Some actions do not seem to work as planned at all, such is the case with the rope you have to climb at one point.

However, the game is still in the early development stages, so it’s only natural that it has some flaws here and there. It’s not a problem that the gameplay is slow, it’s just that the rest of the game appears to be moving faster than your character reacts. This causes some frustration, but it can be ironed out if the developers address the issue. Thankfully, the visual design is exceptional, albeit slightly repetitive after a while.

In the end, Ciro Express is on the right track at the moment in certain regards, but other aspects need a bit of rethinking before the game’s entertainment value becomes greater than the frustration it generates. However, everything else is in place for a wonderful adventure, so we can only hope that the developers keep working on the game with just as much enthusiasm.