I am delighted to say that the world now has at least two people called John Williams who are absolute geniuses: one who created multiple stellar soundtracks for some of the most iconic film franchises and John M. Williams, who single-handedly made one of the most unique exploration-based platforming games I’ve ever played.
Derelict Star is a retro-styled, precision, momentum-based game that looks like it could have been developed for the PICO-8 virtual console. It’s a minimalist 2D platformer with pixels so large that you could tile your bathroom floor with them, and the font is chunkier than a bottle of 10-year-old milk. The credits inform us that the vibrant colour palette is even literally the one from PICO-8, but the game actually runs on the more advanced Godot engine. However, this might still hint at an earlier developed version that used the more limited tool, similar to other renowned precision platformers like Celeste, for which the Celeste Classic version is still available to play on the PICO-8 website.
Derelict Star is nothing like Celeste, however. Where Celeste is all about tight controls and snappy platforming gauntlets, Derelict Star introduces a strange, totally new movement system that is more floaty and based around using a power-limited jet pack. I will not go into any further details, because discovering the intricacies of the motion mechanics is an essential part of the experience. There is absolutely zero hand-holding, and everything is explained through intelligently designed levels. I had multiple moments of utter confusion, followed by delighted exclamations of joy once I finally grasped a technique or mechanical wrinkle.
Later on, you will come across certain terminals that give small clues regarding movement, but in most cases I had already discovered them by that point. There are hints available in the menu, but I strongly recommend struggling and learning by yourself, because it’s a vital part of what made this game such a wonderful ride.
The premise of the story is simple: you are an astronaut, stranded in space because of a lack of fuel. Your only hope is to explore an abandoned space station and attempt to find at least 8 power cells to allow you to go back home. There is barely any guidance, and the game allows you to go in any direction and tackle obstacles in your preferred order. There is not a single power-up or upgrade to be found: All progress happens in your head and in your fingers: an improved understanding of the mechanics and an increased skill in controlling the character.
It is an amazing experience to suddenly brush by an obstacle that seemed insurmountable a few hours earlier, and the amount of growth I felt during the first half of the game was incredible. But I have to make one thing clear: this game is hard. Even with a deep understanding of all the nuts and bolts, the further power cells are hidden behind some dauntingly difficult platforming sections. You will have to combine all your gained knowledge with a good dose of focus and practice to be able to obtain the later goals, and it eventually took me around 12 hours to reach the “end” of the game.
I write “end” in inverted commas because this game has a ton of optional content. First of all, while you need 8 power cells to finish the game, there are actually 12 available. This gives you the option to go for the easiest ones based on your specific skills. It is a crucial part of what kept the game fun for me: whenever I reached a dead end, there were enough other options to try and push further.
For the truly insane, there is also a secondary collectible called “Qbits”. There are a whopping 646 Qbit points to collect, and achieving this seems to be the ultimate (optional) challenge in the game. Acting in a similar role to the strawberries in Celeste, these are placed in all sorts of hard-to-reach corners of the station and often require extreme skills to obtain. In order to actually claim them, you have to safely get them all the way to a checkpoint.
Talking of checkpoints, luckily, the game is extremely generous in that regard: all around the station are terminals, and whenever you reach one, you can set it as your new spawn location. There is also the option to freely teleport between any discovered terminals and get access to a limited map with all objects you’ve discovered, plus the location of all power cells. These quality-of-life additions are essential in keeping the game from becoming a frustrating mess. Whenever you are able to nail a particularly hard section, you are quickly rewarded with a new checkpoint and the realisation that you’ll never have to do it again.
Right?
Well, not completely. In a fantastic stroke of genius, the developer decided that whenever you’re carrying a power cell, you’re unable to change spawn points. This effectively means that when you’ve finally reached a power cell, you will have to get it all the way back to your ship in one go. Not only does this suddenly demand a prolonged consistency in the platforming you’ve already accomplished, it’s also a great opportunity for deep exploration and attempting to find safer paths and shortcuts for the way back. These parts of the game were easily some of the most demanding but also resulted in the most satisfying conclusions.
The graphics are rudimentary but charming and do the job. The music and sound effects are similarly limited but fit the retro style of the game. There are some tiny bits of story, and it’s honestly not too bad, at times even amusing, but it’s also nothing special. You don’t play this game for its narrative or audiovisual design: the focus is clearly on the mechanics and the exceptional environmental challenges. And in that area it is astonishingly detailed and effective.
During my time with Derelict Star, I felt many things: confusion, frustration, elation, curiosity, excitement, hopelessness, joy and awe. Even though it isn’t the most exciting looking package and the experience can feel intimidatingly limited and lonely, it’s an astounding study of platforming mechanics and level design.
