SUPERHYPERCUBE

(oct 19, 2016)

VR is standing its ground in the world of video games. The first generation of headsets have all been officially released, and with it, a melting pot of games that take advantage of the new technology. The obvious approach is first person shooters or horror games, but “kokoromi”, a four-person game collective, is bringing something new to the table.

superHYPERCUBE is a PlayStation VR game developed by kokoromi, a team of four people, including the creator of Fez, Phil Fish, where you twist and turn cubes into cluster-shaped holes by leaning over and analyzing the 3D space. May sound simple, but the game gets addicting fast.

From the start, the game feels natural. On boot-up, a color-coded tutorial on how to flip the cube pops up, with the virtual controller in your hands matching the color of their appropriate inputs. Just the three movements in that tutorial feel intuitive, and that feeling sticks for every play session.

superHYPERCUBE’s visuals are some of the best in PlayStation VR’s current line-up, right up there with Rez Infinite. kokoromi says that they wanted to make something that would exist if VR was a viable technology in the 70s, taking inspiration from movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, using bright, warm colors, curved shapes, and even having the UI flicker like a lightbulb upon launch.

Every level is separated by about 10 walls; each level being represented by a shape. Level one surrounds you with bright dots, level two has lines of light shooting by, level three takes you through a tunnel of triangles, etc. It’s an incredibly smart design choice that adds to the game’s aesthetic.

The entire game has an intense bloom, with bright neon covering all of the space. It harkens back to the Atari days of simplicity and rich colors, but it keeps the nostalgia with a modern look with the mind-blowing visuals of stopping time or crashing through a tough wall. superHYPERCUBE tries to emulate a VR game in the 80s and does it incredibly damn well.

superHYPERCUBE emulates the Atari era, but not just in terms of visuals. You’re given one arcade mode, where you go through as many walls as you can within two lives, alongside a world leaderboard that lets you see where you and other players messed up, as well as what the correct fit was.

Incredible replay value doesn’t just come from addicting game mechanics, though, as the trophy list teases ten levels to fully complete; creating a campaign that Phil Fish has said he doesn’t expect anyone to beat anytime soon. With those expectations and my curiosity of how the levels will visually change makes it more replayable than any other game this year.

kokoromi’s $30 asking price for superHYPERCUBE seemed a bit steep at first, but I am getting my money’s worth twofold. VR games have shook me to my core with how unbelievable the technology is, but superHYPERCUBE is a game that doesn’t ride or die on novelty; it sticks with you for hundreds of sessions to come, and it’s exactly the type of experience VR has been in need of.