Review: Teslagrad

A journey begins… A treacherous tower… Unravel its mysteries! Teslagrad is a 2D puzzle platformer with action elements, where magnetism and other electromagnetic powers are the key to go throughout the game, and thereby discover the secrets kept in the long abandoned Tesla Tower.

Pros:

• Lovely hand drawn art style with some excellent animations. The look and feel is very akin to a cartoon. the backdrops are every bit as good.
• The opening chase sequence is one of the best opening scenes in a game for a long time.
• Puzzle platformer gameplay.
• Six save slots for multiple saves.
• Proper off screen play that can be switched at any point by hitting the icon on screen.
• Whilst playing on the big screen, The gamepad screen is used as a map which fills itself in as you discover new lands.
• Pick up and learn new abilities.
• Powerful story that is a work of genius as no word is spoken.
• Infinite lives so no fear of game over.
• Auto saves frequently.
• Good checkpoint system. Dying in an area will reset you back to the entrance.
• You can go wherever you want as long as you have the neccessary skills.
• Drawings on the wall/floor demonstrate how new moves work and have a simple room near by to practice.
• You have gloves that conduct electric magnets and are used to change the polarity of blocks to move them around. One fist is blue whilst the other one is red.
• Controls are simple enough and the gloves are used with the L and R buttons but you can also use the X and A buttons.
• Soundtrack is really good.
• The game is huge! It will take you hours upon hours to find and do everything.
• Collectibles are scattered through out the level and may require new abilities to be used to reach them.

Cons:

• Slight slowdown instances on the gamepad whilst playing off screen.
• A lot of back tracking for collectibles.
• The game gets really difficult later on and escalates quite quickly.

In Summary, This is a gem of a game. The art style, The music and the clever mechanics really make it one of the best Wii U games on the eshop. You will be instantly taken by it after the opening scene. It really is a piece of gaming gold. Luckily the game builds off that opening and delivers a worthy puzzler. Do yourself a favour and get this brilliant little game!