Life is tough being a raider of tombs, whether it is Lara Croft, that little Spelunky man, Indiana Jones and now Sydney Hunter.
In this retro themed 2-D platformer, this little fella manages to get himself stuck inside a Mayan pyramid and then find his way out while helping the locals combat some cursed Mayan gods and reassemble a calendar. There is a zany ‘anything can happen’ approach that made me think of early 80s cartoons.
Curse of the Mayan’s gameplay is a mixture of solid platforming, and some decent puzzling. There are a ton of bosses with routines to learn and each level is littered with secrets that are required to unlock more levels.
What makes the game sing is its on point love letter to the 8-bit platformers. Each screen is its own discreet area with well designed challenges that gradually ramp up. I really appreciated that there felt like there was constant forward momentum in the game, with the game escalating in difficulty at the same pace as my skills were improving.
The visual style looks very much like the ZX Spectrum, but although the visuals are archaic, the controls are modernised and the movement feels really tight. Jumps are spot on and when a game is a joy to play, it is easy to keep going.
I will say that my one gripe is when I was forced to slow down and replay some of the older levels again to track down some of the trinkets to unlock other areas. That speed bump deflated me a little but I don’t think it should dissuade anyone that loves this style of game.
Conclusion
A solid little platformer made in the image of games almost as old as the Mayan Ruins themselves, but with modernised controls that make it feel refined.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox Series S or X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
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