Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (Wii U) Review

In Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, players take on the role of Giana, a girl who possesses the special ability to travel between dreams. When travelling between dreams, Giana's appearance and abilities also alternate between her "Cute" and "Punk" forms. The Cute form allows her to float through the air by twirling, allowing players to avoid large gaps and death traps. Her Punk form gives the ability to charge through various obstacles, destroying them on her way and can also be used to bounce off walls, reaching previously inaccessible areas.

As well as changing the appearance of Giana when transporting between dreams, the visuals, soundtrack and dynamics of the level also change. For instance, a gate that is not open when in the "dark" world will open up when players switch to the "light" world.

Considering The Great Giana Sisters was almost a complete copy of Nintendo's Super Mario Bros., it's kind of funny that this mechanic makes Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams one of the most unique 2D platformers to be released in recent years.

Levels start off fairly easy, with the game slowly introducing the different mechanics to players and preparing them for the harder, rage-inducing levels that pop up later in the game. Thankfully, there are regular checkpoints throughout the level, making the game less annoying than other difficult platformers. Also scattered throughout these levels are large blue crystals that can be collected to unlock new artwork in the game's gallery. Whilst these aren't required in order to finish the game, it is a nice addition to be able to view the various gallery items.

When traversing through the various different levels in Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, players will come across three different coloured gems that are scattered around. Blue gems can be collected by using either of Giana's forms, whilst the red and yellow ones must be collected by Punk Giana and Cute Giana, respectively.

After each stage is beaten, players are then given a rank that is indicated by stars. Depending on how many gems collected and how many deaths, players are awarded a certain number of stars; with five being the best rank. In order to progress further into the game, revisiting previously completed levels is required as there is a star requirement for each one. Going through the earlier levels and progressing can be done quite quickly, until getting to the third world that is, where going back to the early levels and beating the rank is necessary.

Whilst the game is fairly short, consisting of only three worlds; players can tackle the levels again in the Score Attack and Time Attack modes. For those who aren't really fussed about beating personal scores and would much prefer harder difficulties, do not fear! Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams features two harder difficulties that become unlocked upon clearing the game on previous settings. Hardcore and Über Hardcore are two unforgiving modes, with the former eliminating checkpoints entirely and the latter sending the gamer right back to the beginning upon dying. One thing's for sure, these difficulties certainly live up to their names!

If there is one bad thing to say about Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - more specifically this version of the game - it's that when playing in Off-TV mode, no audio is played through the GamePad's speakers. The developer, Black Forest Games, is aware of this issue, though, and will hopefully be releasing a patch in the near future.