I don’t think I’ve ever referred to something vague as “charming,” yet that’s exactly what Narita Boy is. There’s certainly an underlying emotional narrative, but progressing through the game itself is so “out there” that I couldn’t help but want to uncover more of the Digital Kingdom and the life of The Creator. The 80s aesthetic makes the experience that much better, allowing me to revel in my own sense of nostalgia while playing.

Narita Boy is among the best Metroidvanias in recent years. Its beautiful world, surprisingly emotional story, and diverse enemy pool will leave you wanting more from its short run time.

Narita Boy is a unique game, witch beautiful pixel art, handmade animations and a great level design full of references from the eighties.

Narita Boy is a spectacularly hand crafted experience that starts slowly to become a powerful and funny ride through a cathode-ray tube television from the 80s.

Narita Boy is an extremely competent 2D platformer. The guys from Studio Koba have succeeded in the uneasy task of giving a unique personality to a video game whose basic mechanics could sometimes appear derivative.

I’ve reached an age where the games I would have enjoyed 20 years ago and more are a distant recollection of quick wits, skill and muscle memory, of the ‘how-on-earth-did-I-play-that?’ variety. Yet here we are, four years on from Studio Kobe’s Kickstarter launch and while it feels like a lifetime has passed in the interim, not just in videogames, I find myself playing a game in a genre that I had all but given up hope of finding any kind of pleasure in again. In Narita Boy, beating seemingly insurmountable odds can still be fun.

Narita Boy's difficulty is balanced well enough to offer challenge without frustration, and the combat is sublime. Not to mention it's visually incredible.

This is a fantastic, epic adventure that, even with its shortcomings, delivers a fantastic experience.

Fantasy, science fiction and electronic music mingle in this 80's neon drenched adventure. The visuals are striking, and the presentation is top notch. On the other hand, gameplay and exploration fall more on the serviceable side and that is a little disappointing because with more care put into them, Narita Boy could be a classic.

Gorgeous 2D visuals, great music and fast faced gameplay sounds like a great tribute to the 80's.

The Digital Kingdom needs you and you will be pleased to enter the fantastic world of Narita Boy, one of the best indie games of the year.

Narita Boy is a great debut project from Studio Koba, and hopefully not the last. A world steeped in love and detail deserves your attention.

Without being perfect, Narita Boy offers a pleasant neo-retro ride. Visually sublime, it manages to push the codes inherited from the 80s further than a few games before it.

Narita Boy is a surprise. Maybe it's not a masterpiece, but it's a case of being good in things that we don't expect to be there.

In the end though it will most likely be Narita Boy’s visuals that grab you – and on that front Studio Koba has delivered and then some. Even though there’s a lot of lore and explaining going on it’s all met and even exceeded by the stunning backdrops, wonderful animation, and a consistent tone that strikes a balance between awe and familiar. Between analog and digital. Accompanied by an excellent synth-driven soundtrack, and a story that is ultimately bittersweet if not entirely unpredictable – Narita Boy is worth seeking out, installing, and experiencing in full VHS-era CRT-vision.

Narita Boy is the perfect game for anyone craving the look and sound of the 80s. It tells a surprisingly deep and emotional story, but you must overcome some gameplay issues to experience the whole thing. I loved meeting the characters and listening to the music of The Digital Kingdom and can't wait to see what Studio Koba does next.

While you were partying, Narita Boy studied the techno-blade. Impossibly good pixel art is locked behind bad-but-gets-better platforming and okay-but-gets-cool hack n' slashing.

Narita Boy is a love letter to pop culture and visual references from the 80s. This indie game stands out thanks to its story, design and music, although problems with gameplay and controls prevent it from reaching its full potential.

Narita Boy is a game that takes such a strong influence from so many past works, it can often feel a bit derivative. However, that doesn’t stop the game from being enjoyable, as there’s plenty of unique challenges to overcome as well as some solid lore-building. It’s gorgeous visual design and soundtrack will be enough to entice anyone familiar with 80s pop culture, and could prove irresistible to those that have a fondness for the era.

Narita Boy is a surprisingly melancholic experience that puts forth a narrative exploring the power fantasy that video games provide people. Or rather more accurately, it gives the player power over their own journey as well as the skills necessary to overcome obstacles. It contrasts the beautiful and fantastical pixel world it’s created, with a very human story of hardship and grief.

Narita Boy's digital twist on a classic fantasy tale is engrossing if a bit disorientating.

Narita Boy’s retro style is its main selling point. It’s almost like a documentary on the early days of videogames when their creation were labors of love and dedication from passionate geeks in a garage, not industrial products focus-tested by mega corporations. Although it falls short of being a masterpiece, it’s got more than enough appeal to come recommended to those who have a soft spot for the period.

At its best, there’s certainly moments of appreciation and respect for the artistic detail Narita Boy lavishes in, with its pixel art and generally-eery vision of cyberspace run amok with corrupted foes. At the very least, the game’s somewhat-warped screen display and drenching in ’80s culture tropes is anything but off-putting. The problem then lies with its simplicity of delivery and the game’s general lack of appeasing those looking for something more than surface-level attraction. A world that too often feels unnecessarily padded on a level design basis; a combat system though not terrible, feels a little too undecided on what it exactly wants to be. And beyond that, a story/narrative the game really could’ve gone without given how little relevance or even impact it holds on a player’s progression. Venturing through the Digital Kingdom does spark some moments of delight. But beyond its art-style and fond execution on aesthetic, Narita Boy‘s unenthusiastic lack of originality and care for its overarching design, winds up carving out a satisfactory yet tepid debut for Studio Koba.

Narita Boy's extraordinary style and presentation is let down by hollow exploration and one-note combat.

If only there was substance to match the undeniable style. [Issue#357, p.123]

Narita Boy is hands-down a gorgeous looking game, with detailed pixel art and a beautiful ode to Tron. It is unfortunate then, that its platforming is overly simplistic, the combat perfunctory and the backtracking feels utterly unnecessary.