REVIEW: Castaway is a tiny tribute to all things Zelda

Canari Games has just one game under their belt, that being the cinematic platformer, LUNARK. As a huge fan of cinematic platformers, I couldn’t wait to give that one a go, and I ended up being thoroughly impressed. It was clear LUNARK was made by someone who completely understood what made cinematic platformers fun and engaging, and they still managed to put their own unique spin on the formula. LUNARK was an incredibly impressive debut for Canari Games, and it made me instantly interested in seeing what they tackled next.

While games like Another World and Flashback were no doubt the inspiration for LUNARK, Canari Games set their sights on a much bigger source of inspiration for their next title. Anyone who saw even a second of the trailer for Castaway instantly knew what the game was looking to evoke. Canari is aiming squarely at old-school Legend of Zelda fans with Castaway, and in particular, they’re honing in on those extremely fond of titles like The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, and Oracle of Ages/Seasons.

Inspiration aside, there’s one big difference between Link’s Awakening/Oracle of Ages/Seasons and Castaway. While Nintendo/Capcom’s Zelda offerings looked to provide console-like sprawling experiences on the small screen, Castaway takes things in the complete opposite direction. While you spend multiple hours working your way through Ages or Seasons, you can see the entirety of Castaway within an hour, or at most, two. That was always the plan from the get-go according to Canari Games, but whether that sits well with players remains to be seen.

There’s simply no way to talk about Castaway without mentioning Zelda, just as you can’t discuss LUNARK without Flashback. Without one you most likely wouldn’t have the other. From the very first minute of Castaway, you’re going to have a flood of Zelda memories come at you. You’re shipwrecked on a strange island, you wake up and wander to the beach to find a sword, and then your adventure begins. Again, that adventure in the Zelda games is quite a timesink, but Castaway streamlines the experience into a bite-sized adventure.

In Castaway, you have a sword, a pickaxe for breaking rocks/hitting enemies, a hookshot and the ability to roll. These are all gameplay features Zelda fans are very familiar with, and they work exactly the same in Castaway. Figuring out what to do in Castaway is going to be second-nature for Zelda fans, and those who fall into that camp should have no trouble at all speeding through the journey.

Staying with the Zelda theme, every single mechanic in Castaway is ripped straight from Nintendo’s timeless series. There are block puzzles to tackle, rooms of enemies to clear to unlock secrets, heart pieces to collect, keys needed to get through doors, boss battles that require learning patterns…it’s all here. If you’re only looking for something that mimics Zelda rather than builds on it, Castaway should more than do the trick. As with LUNARK, if you were looking for a game that takes a tried-and-true formula and sprinkles in some freshness, Castaway is likely to leave you disappointed. Well, at least in its main mode…

No joke, you can clear the entire overworld of Castaway, along with its three dungeons, in roughly a half hour. That’s on the first playthrough as well. As mentioned above, Canari Games has been very upfront about the “mini-game” design of Castaway. The thing is, there is another element to the game that’s offered as a second mode, and truth be told, that’s where I found considerably more fun.

Don’t get me wrong, the campaign of Castaway is wonderful. It plays great, sounds wonderful, looks gorgeous…it’s a blast. The thing is that you barely even get a taste of it all before the credits roll. When the end-game does come up though, you unlock Castaway’s Tower mode. Now this is something we’ve also seen in a few Zelda games over the years. Remember the Savage Labyrinth in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker? That series of pits had you squaring off against all sorts of enemies floor-by-floor, upping the challenge and rewards as you went. Castaway’s Tower is much the same, but there are some neat wrinkles that make it quite addictive.

The goal in Castaway’s Tower mode is to work your way up through the floors, which culminates in a boss battle at the top. Just like Wind Waker, each floor you go through has enemies and hazards you have to deal with. Take out all the enemies and the path to the next floor opens. Where things differ is that enemies will drop coins when you defeat them, and picking up those coins can completely change just how easy or difficult your journey will be.

Taking a cue from roguelike games, collecting coins in Castaway’s Tower mode will fill a meter. Once that meter is filled, you’ll have the option of selecting from three random power-ups. They might give you the chance to replenish health, get strong weapons, make it possible to pick up coins from further away, and so on. You make your pick on how you want to strengthen your character, and then you continue on. Each time you fill the meter it requires more coins to do so, but maxing it out each level gives you more power-ups to pick from. You can think of it as a fresh take on the gameplay loop in Vampire Survivors.

I did not make it through the Tower on my first try, but I can tell you that I had a blast doing it. As soon as I died, I was ready to take on the challenge once more. Now Castaway’s Tower mode isn’t going to give you hours upon hours of gameplay, but it’s certainly going to extend the time you spend with the game. While some might feel a bit disappointed by the brevity of the main mode, I would imagine there’ll be a feeling of satisfaction, or at least some appreciation for what Tower mode offers. While I truly did enjoy the very-short-and-sweet campaign, Tower mode is hands-down where I had the most fun.

I think that’s the most important thing to convey about Castaway. It may be a very small experience, but it doesn’t lack in quality. Just like LUNARK before it, Castaway was built by a team that truly recognizes why the Zelda franchise is so popular. The attention to detail here is top-notch, the mechanics are incredibly sound, the design oozes charm…it’s all there. It just happens to be in a truly tiny package.

I can only hope that Castaway does well enough that it convinces Canari Games to go all-out on a follow-up. I would absolutely love to see Canari Games take this Zelda idea and run with it. Build a fully-fleshed world, come up with new powers and mechanics, create a unique cast of characters, and then mix that all in with the classic Zelda gameplay we know and love. That game, if it matched the quality of Castaway, would be a homerun experience that Zelda fans would be foaming at the mouth for. Castaway gives us the slimmest nibble of what that could be, and it almost makes you sad that the game is over and done so quickly. That said, what we get here is the vision Canari had for Castaway, so I have to respect that. The problem is that Castaway is so darn good in every way that it’s positively screaming for a full-fat sequel.