4.5/5 ★ – MiasmaOfVibes's review of Curse Crackers: For Whom the Belle Toils.

This game rules. The phrase "hidden gem" is passe in the indie space, but this game genuinely is a hidden gem and probably one of my favorite 2D platformers to come out in the last generation or so. Curse Crackers is basically doing what Shovel Knight did but rather than being "NES games the way you remember them" it's instead doing "GBC games the way you remember them" and that flavor of retro lands a lot harder for me. The world and characters are surprisingly fleshed out, and the movement feels so good; once you get a handle on the controls it can get really kinetic in that almost-out-of-control-but-not-quite way that makes you feel really cool once you finally pull off a tricky section. It's also a game that just kept going, with the post-game opening up a surprising amount of additional sidequests and story segments. An easy recommendation if challenging 2D platforming is your jam