We recently reported on a new precision platformer Temagoneko was heading to Switch and Steam and now have had the opportunity to give it a go. We’re reviewing the Switch port here and thank publisher Rawrlabs Games for the chance to put our platforming skills to the test.

Temagoneko is a budget title and isn’t trying to be anything but a challenging game that will take a long time to master and complete. You play as a little white cat trying to traverse the dangerous world he finds himself in. There isn’t much story to discuss, this is all about the gameplay.

At its heart, Tamagoneko is a simple game. Each of the 160 levels aims to get to the end without dying. You die by hitting a spike, falling down a pit or coming in contact with any number of obstacles or traps. Each time you fail you will be sent back to the start of the level or a checkpoint that some of the levels have. The levels start fairly easy but the difficulty ramps up by about the fifth one and it never stops getting harder.

Controlling the cat is a breeze but there is a purposefully slippy way he lands that leads to lots of deaths if he isn’t positioned correctly for each jump. You can gain some further control by holding the walk button that allows for a slightly more controlled jump and stops the cat from moving around in the air so much. This technique becomes very useful early on and it’s wise to perfect the use of the slower jump as soon as possible.

Along the way, you’ll pick up crystals that add to a total which in turn unlocks new play areas. There are also hidden bonus objects for the completionists to discover and these are usually hard to get to. The levels grow in complexity and every 15 levels the scenery changes and new obstacles and traps are introduced. If you’re finding a level too difficult, you can skip it or return to the world map to see what others are available to try.

Each world also allows you to learn new skills that give you the impetus to push on as well keeping the gameplay fresh. There is a tendency for budget precision platforms to become repetitive quite quickly but Tamagoneko has answered that by slowly introducing new mechanics the further you progress. The bottom line is this is one tough game that requires practice and lots oftrial and error.

The presentation is clean without much detail but is decent given the price point. These kinds of games will never be winning on the graphics or sound front, but make up for it with brilliant arcade gameplay and replayability. All that being said, it’s worth mentioning the nod Tamagoneko pays to the classic platformers of old. We’d guess that Super Mario World made a big impression on the developers back in the day.

Overall Tamagoneko isn’t a game for all players. Casual gamers or those looking for a quick blast will find the difficulty brutal. But gamers who want a true challenge that pushes their skills to the max will appreciate the high bar this one sets. For the price, costing about a fiver, Tamagoneko will please those interested and is worth a blast, especially for those into speed running. It isn’t doing anything new but excels in a crowded genre.