Bite-sized Review: Triple Take

By Chris Picone, 06 October, 2022

Triple Take is a precision platformer – but an unusually forgiving one. It has a good sense of humour, a whopping 50 levels across 5 worlds, and is a lot of fun.

Aesthetics

Gorgeous 1-bit graphics; bare-bones for the most part, so as to not detract from the level design (read: so you can clearly see all the death traps you need to avoid) but the special effects like the fires and bosses are nicely detailed.

Gameplay

Only one button: Jump! Tap for short jump, hold for long. It’s everything you expect from a precision platformer: Wall jump over the spikes, dodge the bullets, time your jumps to miss the flamethrower traps, water levels, the usual. What sets this title apart is the whole “triple take” idea; you have to play each level three times but each time the level’s different. Floor tiles or platforms disappear, missing wall tiles might reveal spikes, bullet or flame traps, or even open a new entrance to a different part of the level. It’s a neat mechanic to begin with but there are indicators on each take that give you a fair idea how the level will change so you can plan ahead – perfect conditions for speedrunners. There are also nifty little cutscenes between each level that reveal bits of the story as you go. I don’t want to give too much away but the story follows the “your game’s become self-aware” gimmick so some of the scenes are interactive, requiring you to jump into windows explorer and move a couple of game files around. It’s a bit weird but it’s fairly pain-free so just run with it.

Verdict

Triple Take doesn’t really add anything new to the genre (although the “triple take” concept itself is pretty cool!) but it does what it does really well. It’s a super fun precision platformer that any fan of the genre should be jumping all over. It’s also a perfect title for speedrunners.

Links: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1734250/Triple_Take/