The pea is back! The sequel to PigeonDev’s 2018 platformer, Awesome Pea, is out, and despite not playing the original, I tried my hand at it. I didn’t know much about Awesome Pea 2 before going in. I read “platformer” and thought – hey, I like platformers, lets give it a bash. Like Mario! But I soon discovered that Awesome Pea is more akin to the sadistic levels of Mario Maker you see Youtubers play than Super Mario Bros.
There is no story, there are no lives – its just you, a timer, and increasingly difficult levels to traverse the Greedy Pea through. Having done my due diligence, I’ve discovered that while Awesome Pea was difficult, Awesome Pea 2 ramps it up. This game requires patience and precision to platform your way through. These are two things I do not possess. But what I lack in patience, I make up for in stubbornness, so I barrelled my way through.
I’ll admit, I didn’t finish the game. For the safety of my Switch, I opted to put the game down, because boy was I getting frustrated. But that’s not to say this game isn’t fun. The level design is clever, and the aesthetics – whooboy – it is simple but beautiful. Harkening back to the appearance of the original Gameboy, the game is entirely in shades of green, and the view is beveled in a way that transforms the Switch’s screen – or that of your TV – into a replica of an old CRT.
One issue I had is that if you plan to play this on a commute – not that we’re going anywhere at time of writing – you best have a stable surface to put your Switch on, as it requires the joycons to be separate from the Switch itself in order to be played. So, if you have a Switch Lite, I wouldn’t recommend picking this up unless you have extra joy cons at your disposal, as you may find yourself unable to play. Docking the Switch and playing the game on your TV seems to be the way to go – you can clearly see what is ahead of you, sit back, and jump your pea-self through the levels, picking up coins and gems, avoiding spikes, all to get yourself into the cauldron at the end of the rainbow.
If you’re the type of gamer to enjoy incredibly difficult platformers where you run the risk of dying over and over, this is a game you must try your hand at. And at less than a fiver, you won’t be breaking the bank.
The game, when played perfectly, lasts about a half an hour. But it is going to take much trial and error to get to that point as you learn the ideal way to make your way through, how best to collect every coin and gem, and be the greediest pea you can be.
Awesome Pea 2 is also available on Steam.
