If a short game winds up feeling long, that’s probably not a good sign, but Reed Remastered falls victim to this. It offers less than an hour of gameplay, but still seems to drag. The reasons for this are numerous, and they all add up to make this a game I recommend passing on.

The story found on Nintendo’s page sounds pretty cool (a supercomputer breaking down), but very little of it is conveyed in-game. A shame as it makes it that much tougher to be invested in the proceedings. The short levels, some taking mere seconds, don’t help either. For that matter, I’m not even entirely sure what type of  “small creature” Reed is supposed to look like, but he has no personality to speak of.

The levels themselves (50 linear ones) present a difficulty that’s certainly much more cheap than satisfying. Do you enjoy dropping onto spikes you can’t see? How about being hit by arrows fired from off-screen? The tight camera makes ill-considered instances like this a common occurrence. Some slippery controls do no favors as well. While “Unique traps” are promised, but anyone who has played even a modest number of platformers will recognize everything here as pretty traditional.

  • Reed Remastered
  • Reed Remastered
  • Reed Remastered
  • Reed Remastered
  • Reed Remastered

Variety is scarce in Reed Remastered, and it extends beyond the level design. The graphics in this virtual world, while not half bad, repeat so they soon start to wear out their welcome. A screen shaking effect is pretty rough (hardly an asset), but wisely you’re given the option to deactivate it and save yourself a headache.

How much more can I say about a game with less than an hour of playtime? Reed Remastered doesn’t do much of anything to leave a positive impression. Platformers (even one-hit-kill ones like this) are a dime a dozen on the Nintendo Switch. How does this one hope to stand out with the multiple ways it comes up short? I was hoping for better; I didn’t have fun playing it. If you’re still curious, check out the 99 cent mobile version.