Space Giraffe is a lovingly, passionately, incredibly creative game, an oddity that meets its own creator's selfish...
FROM THE TOP
It was a summer of selfishly gluttonous gaming when I discovered Jeff Minter's Tempest 2000 amongst all the rubble. The thing that made this game remarkable wasn't just the gripping, finely tuned gameplay, or the masterful difficulty curve. It was the way that, as I got better at the game, the enemies began to explode into a beautiful fireworks display that was unmistakably reminiscent of hypnotic music visualizers. That the beautiful busy-ness of the visuals not only didn't hamper the gameplay, but made it remarkably more enjoyable was to me, a revelation.
It was no doubt this same revelation that led Minter to create Space Giraffe.
A GIRAFFE WITH NO HEAD…
Space Giraffe is a lovingly, passionately, incredibly creative game, an oddity that meets its own creator's selfish stubbornness for full creative expression halfway.
In Space Giraffe you waggle (using the left stick) an abstract yellow-ish limby thing (A Giraffe!?) clock-wise, and counter clockwise (or left and right) around the inside edge of numerous varied playfields all reminiscent of tunnels, planes, half pipes, and whatever Minter's odd brain could think of (one shape/level at a time), all while you blast equally odd looking shape-y things (enemies!?), while an insane plethora of NEON powered (Acid-drenched music visualizers) backgrounds pulse to an often dark, and a sometimes trippy and ambient soundtrack.
A SLIGHT…LY LONGER THAN EXPECTED LEARNING CURVE
Ok, here is where space Giraffe fumbles. To most people, it does not, and might not ever make sense. While simple at heart, its insistence on insanely trippy visuals keeps the should-be ease of use at arms length.
Space Giraffe throws seemingly everything it has visually at you from the get-go and thusly, it looked incredibly poor on the initial cheap LCD HDTV screen I tested it on. It also has a rather poor tutorial in which to orient the user. This tutorial doesn't sufficiently point out what the "power zone" (a major gameplay mechanic) is, it doesn't outline the various enemies that you'll encounter (or give the user tips on how to survive them), and it ever more curiously never explains that to play Space Giraffe efficiently you must always…always play with the sound on.
It also doesn't explain that you can't perceive this game in standard fashion (pixel hunting…Space Giraffe's engine display no pixels), or that the visuals will fluctuate in intensity as the game progresses. Of course, trying to explain that stuff might have been fruitless, as it would all likely seem like faux contrived nonsense to the average Joe.
Fortunately, I had persistence, equal stubbornness, and the internet. Hours later (much longer than anyone would ever expect to persist) something clicked.
PERCEIVING THE UNLIKELY
Hook Space Giraffe up to a nice big, colorful standard-def TV or something with a high refresh rate, this is really the only way to play it and it looks incredible. Turning the sound up also helps…a lot.
Sound in Space Giraffe is a crazy and oddly creative (and lovable) mix of everything from Monty Python sound bytes, apparently Commodore 64 sound rips, animal noises, dissonant trippy chimes, and who knows what else. What else? Listening to these effects is essential to gameplay. Within the chaotic game field, sound cues are often just as necessary to decipher the action as visual cues. Enemies, such as the attribute modifying "Flower" give off sounds of an increasingly higher pitch as they are shot to indicate to the user how much life it has left in its span, others simply clink just enough to let you know that you are hitting your target. Its often surreal how well one can decipher the Space Giraffe field once they learn this trick.
SCORING POINTS
Space Giraffe is not Tempest, even though you…and I thought so for the first couple of hours that you and I play(ed) it, as you cannot win in SG by only shooting enemies. Shooting enemies simply protects you, gives you minimal points, and fills your "Power Zone", which is visualized as the opposite end of the playfield. If the other end of the playfield (Half-pipe etc.) is extended, your Power Zone is active. When your Power Zone is active, that is where you can score points, as you can now run sideways over all the grunt enemies in a maneuver called "Bulling". The more grunts you "Bull" the higher you're points multiplier goes, and of course the higher you'll score.
A REMARKABLE FLIGHT FOR A GIRAFFE
Space Giraffe is by all means, a true modernization of the old-school game design rule-book. Along with the trippy visual elements, the gameplay necessary sound fusion, and the numerous gameplay twists it houses, it also tosses the notion that old-school at heart, means short, quick, and often unsatisfying play sessions.
Space Giraffe play sessions often demand that the user sits and enjoys the experience for a while at a time. The game includes 100 standard levels (plus one of the nicest bonuses I've seen in a game, once you complete it), that gradually ramp up in difficulty. Smartly, Minter allows the user to restart at any of the levels that the user has completed with at least three lives left at any time, reminiscent of an everlasting save point.
Fortunately, this doesn't make the game a cakewalk. Since the game is often so intense, it is usually best to start a game at an early level, in order to get in the groove by the time the later levels come to play. Space Giraffe play sessions can often last hours at a time. I'd suggest that one gull play-through of the game could easily last around 3 and a half to four hours long, and because of the repayable nature at the games roots, a user will likely spend many times that before the game begins to lose any luster.
THE VERDICT
I love Space Giraffe, in my opinion, in sight of much of the varied, and often passionate contradicting opinions and views I have read about it, as well as noting my own play experience, I find it to be one of the most remarkable and honestly enjoyable games I have played in a long time. But it is not without its flaws.
Learning the ropes of SG can take way too long for a user (I know it did for me), even to this day, I still get nailed by enemy bullets that I did not, and perhaps could not have seen. Its visuals are chaotic, fusing often gaudy color palettes, and its visuals give every indication that Minter has no basis in traditional visual design.
But what Space Giraffe is, is an anomaly. The fact that every one of the noted issues is eventually conquered, the gameplay itself is fundamentally engaging, solid, and a joy to play, and perhaps even more so, the fact that every single time I boot it up, I am by all odds immediately compelled to play and enjoy another game, is enough indication for myself that Space Giraffe is by all means an excellent game.
But unlike many other developers' projects, Minter's Space Giraffe lovingly wears its flaws on its sleeve. If you are at all compelled by what Space Giraffe has to offer, give it your best shot, because, if it captures you, it will have you for the rest of your days. Like Tempest 2000, this thing likely won't lose its luster for years down the line, and I'd say that a lifetime of enjoyment is worth a few hours of sometimes difficult learning.
Final score 9/10