This is a awesome jump ’n’ run with nice game mechanics (cable hook, triple jump, and so on) that I can recommend for all ages. As a child of the 80s, I really enjoy the classic look and the great visual effects. Also, the 8-bit style music fits the game play and the genre very well. They should make more indie games like this.

This game feels very familiar, as it clearly takes inspiration from other popular indie platformers. Out of the games I've personally played, I think it matches Celeste most closely with its gameplay loop. I was also reminded of Fez with some of the stylistic choices. Having finished it today, I can confidently recommend the game with flying colors to anyone who is a fan of the 2D platforming genre, even going so far as to say Super Cable Boy can contend with other popular 2D platforming gems on Steam like Celeste, The End is Nigh, Dustforce DX, Super Meat Boy, VVVVVV, and Sonic Mania.

A few things to note, however:
- The game is fairly short, much more so than most of the aforementioned titles. It took me a little over 13 hours to get all the achievements, and a considerable chunk of that time was spent grinding out the optional bonus levels after completing the main story. If you plan to buy it, I highly recommend waiting for a sale.
- While the controls are overall very fluid, there were some minor quirks that felt a little intrusive at times, one of which was the lack of a traditional variable jump scheme. In most 2D platformers, you can let go of the jump button early and your character stops moving upward, thus allowing you to do shorter jumps if you hold the jump button for less time. In Super Cable Boy, this works a bit differently; you always jump a fixed height when pressing the button, but you can halt your movement by tapping the down direction. As such, you can consistently do a very tiny hop if you hold down while pressing the jump key. This control scheme wasn't necessarily an awful choice, but it was unusual, and did take some getting used to. The more significant problem was that you couldn't do this tiny hop while simultaneously moving left or right. Instead, you had to hold down, then move in the direction you want. This only came into play a few times during the game, but it felt counterintuitive enough for me to consider asking for a fix, so consider this my official request (even though I'm already done with the game at this point, lol).

A review copy was provided by the developer.

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Platformers are one of my oldest loves in gaming, so when I find one of interest, I'm usually game for it. After watching a YouTube video talk about how interesting Super Cable Boy (SCB) was, even if on the shorter side, I knew I wanted to try it myself. My big question was whether I'd try to go for all of the achievements or not.


A common mistake in platformers is not having a good sense for how long a level should be, or how to include reasonable obstacles that will hold a player's interest. I've tried my hand at unfair or long, grueling stages meant to push my limits, and they only tire me out. For me, memorizing all the precise moves across such a gauntlet never appealed to me. Initially, SCB seems like it's going far too heavy in the opposite direction, as the beginning stages are so short that they seem utterly pointless. However, after the warm-up, they start escalating in difficulty, packing small spikes of challenge across micro-levels. When many can be beaten in only a few seconds, it seems only a fair way to describe them.

Adding to this flair is optional onigiri that can be picked up in several stages, which often require going out of your way to pick them up. I really enjoyed these challenges, particularly throughout the early worlds, because the stages made it manageable enough to strive for them without being too strenuous. Beating the stage normally wasn't much of a task, and they were short enough that it didn't require that much additional platforming to get the onigiri to the end. The especially clever ones were built around using a specific cartridge, which would completely change how the stage was tackled.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3013471474
Bad controls can completely undermine any other good elements for a platformer, but largely that wasn't an issue here. The default controls have few inputs, giving plenty of time to get a sense for how momentum and jumping handles in SCB. With four cartridges to find, which will expand your moveset, you'll have to adapt to how each of them functions. However, as I started figuring out their specific attributes, I found that they all worked well. At least, for the most part. Due to the speed of the last move, where you launch like a controllable missile, it can be hard to handle it as well as expected with some of the level layouts.

Because the controls are so responsive and consistent, it's within reason to get a majority of the optional onigiri. Some require multiple attempts to obtain, but generally I wouldn't say the controls are at fault. I'd blame the developers pushing the bounds a bit far with level design and a lack of checkpoints.


In this metaphysical world of clouds and power plants, a glitch is threatening the stability of an electronic world. With advice from a rice cooker, a walking Game Boy seeks out powerful cartridges so that he can traverse difficult sections and fend off the glitchy threat. It's a simple premise, but it connects to the other design features well.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3013470659
With so many interpretations of the internet and gaming, I like the relatively calm visuals representing the landscape in SCB. Each stage ending with a plug suggests they have infinite lives, with death not having much weight, but they have to stop at checkpoints in order to get from one place to the next. It suggests the world is very forgiving if not a bit stilted, so it makes climbing trees and cloud-jumping less hazardous than it would be for our mortal bodies. I'm not as fond of the muted color palette though. At any time, the entire color spectrum is on the screen, but without saturation or vibrancy. If for no other reason, I think I broke up my gameplay sessions into smaller segments because of this.


Across the different worlds, each has their own composition to better set the environment. Even if they have a natural aesthetic, everything still takes place in a digital landscape, so the music has a chip tune style to it. Depending on the circumstances within the world, the tone will shift, such as when the glitch starts chasing you through a series of stages. Another nice feature is that the music is ongoing as you finish a stage, return to the overworld, and continue to the next one. Some of them are a bit soft and subtle, especially when contrasted to more striking songs. It's a small detail, but I enjoy how happy the protagonist sounds whenever he manages to get one of the optional onigiris.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3013471136
🌟 Being able to look around your surroundings is such a great feature. It allows you to scout ahead and search for secrets.
🌟 The boss battles feel like playing the stages. A short and manageable platforming challenge that's not too demanding.


❌ Later levels do get a bit long in the tooth since there's no checkpoint system. My interest in the game started diminishing as they expanded.
❌ Some cartridge abilities and levels feel more fun to use than others.


🔍 If you're stuck trying to obtain an optional onigiri, it might be made easier with an ability you haven't unlocked yet. Triple jumps made some of the swinging areas more manageable for me. It also seems like some of them have more than one way to reach them, as I would wrap around the end of the level and go backwards.
🔍 A few stages have background cues for when you should input button presses. These were common in the Power Plant stages.


Although it started a bit too slow, I started getting interested in the short challenges of clearing levels and trying to get the optional onigiri whenever I could. That's why I'd earned an achievement for getting 64 of the onigiri before finishing some of the later worlds. However, after the first handful of worlds, the stage design started getting longer, which started making those obstacles more of a bother to clear. If it were only that, I don't think my interest would have cooled so much, but it's as if everything compounded together badly. Not only were the stages longer, they also lost safe places to take breathers and check the surroundings. Beating them required one long, fluid series of inputs with little room for mistakes, especially if you were going to hunt down any onigiri.

An occasional level or onigiri requiring such precision wouldn't ruin anything, but my interest dwindled as more of them had that design. I think that what happened with SCB is that over the course of several levels, some of which were so short the challenge was fairly minor, the challenge was expanded gradually until it got a bit much. No checkpoints matters much more in a long stage with little room for error compared to a stroll in the park with a nasty tripping hazard. Overall, I'd still recommend the game, but you might want to watch out for a late curve ball in difficulty.

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There's a lot of decent precision platformers out there, but this one is more than that. It really stands out. It plays good, the music is surprisingly good, and the level design is really top notch. Honestly, everything about this game feels really polished and thought-out. It just clicks.

Super Cable Boy manages to keep your interest by giving you access to additional abilities every once in a while. You can switch between unlocked abilities at any time in any level, and chain them together. Completely optional collectibles either require precise execution or using your abilities in creative ways (or both).

I'd say the main route is just difficult enough for most people, but there's a lot of secret bonus levels for those who want a more extreme experience, and it gets really, really tough. But even when you struggle to complete a level, much like Celeste or other gems, it's (almost) never frustrating, and it's always a blast when you succeed.

It's a nice and smooth platformer with a charming protagonist.
I finished the game in about 5 hours, which had a high density of fun.
Though you can get fast through the game (except the last few levels are quite challenging), getting the onigiris are the real challenge and the smooth gameplay made me try over and over again. In return of the unforgiving onigiri challenges, you get a nice and satisfying feeling when finally getting it.
It's a game where the end boss actually feels like an end boss!

Holy Moley this is so addicting and fun. I thought I wouldn't like this too much(super meatboy) but its super fun! figuring out different ways to break the levels it too good and it works great on steam deck for offline play in short bursts of fun where it feels super good flying threw the levels... seems like a ton of game-play here as well a ton of levels and secrets. Good music and decent story.

9/10

So a little bit of background, I've beaten Celeste (all of it, including 195/202 berries) and Sunblaze, so it's fair to say I'm very experienced with precision platformers!

In Super Cable Boy you play as a cute little GameBoy handheld gaming system with a cable coming out. You play through many gorgeous levels, where you'll be teased with tons of collectibles, incredible level design and some major bopping music~

The goal is to get to the end and plug yourself into the outlet, which will allow you to take on the following levels.

Every world you explore, you will face that chapter's climax, after which you'll gain a new power! There are also some extra parts which you can explore on your own and many secrets.

The power-ups are very creative, and later on, you use them almost simultaneously to get through some very challenging rooms. The story is also pretty cool, I loved the ending.

I played this game on stream[www.twitch.tv] and beat it in a total of 4 hours and 30 while messing around getting collectibles and trying to do some of the harder extra content (it's very, very hard!), and then I played a bit more to see some more of the game.

This game definitely earns the Airi Seal of Approval. I really enjoyed it, and I think it's great for almost every type of gamer, so it's highly recommended!

Quick Score: 5/5

Notes: Great platformer. Its like if you combined FEZ's aesthetic/style with Super Meat Boy and then also threw in Metroidvania upgrades. Visuals/Audio are great.

Only minor complaints are that sometimes the collectibles will hover too close to your character while you are carrying them which makes it difficult to see exactly where you are at times. And the grapple hook is a bit difficult to use precisely, though this doesn't really become a problem until the very final stages.

Difficulty wise the games base levels are not that difficult, but going for 100% collectibles is extremely difficult. Some of the final bonus stages are pretty brutal and for sure harder than anything in SMB. Casual players not to worry, the dev has included an assist mode which you can use to get everything if you so choose.

Super awesome platformer that's a lot of fun. It's clear a lot of love went into this game and it looks absolutely stunning. Seriously this game deserves more recognition.

This is the best platformer I have played in a while. Starting a little slow paced it emerges to a challenging and more importantly fun experience, which challenges your sharpness. The game manages to get never boring due to the ongoing additions of new skills that you acquire on your journey.

What stands out for me personally is how well the game mechanics work. This is true for every skill you get in the game. They are on point. You never get the feeling that it is the game's fault, when you die. This seems to be a simple feat, but I started appreciating it, after I found so many games, where it literally stopped me from playing any further.

Even though I'm not that into the artstyle, it is clear. And the music is top notch.
I also think that the story could have more depth to it, but yeah, I guess it isn't the main focus anyway.

If you are into the genre, there aren't many games that are better than this one. Highly recommended.