I always love to see how a developer evolves over the years, growing in skills and adding what they’ve learned in their newest creations. That couldn’t be truer with the newest release from Lillymo Games, as it’s essentially a remake of the studio’s first outing. The visual changes are obvious (just watch the trailer if you’re not familiar with the original), but there’s much more here than just a facelift.

Super Perils of Baking has an intro sequence that’s straight out of a children’s book, which is the intention. This is a game that’s meant to be played as a family. I started the game by myself while my family was away. I was playing again a couple days later as my daughter (4) joined me and started asking about what was happening, so I booted the game up again to read her the intro. Two brothers end up being rivals over their baking skills. One decides to go after a chef’s hat that ends up being cursed – the more skilled the baker, the worse the confectionary creatures. As these brothers are some of the finest bakers the world has seen, this is cause for concern. The sane brother takes up his whisk and heads out to save his brother, and perhaps the world.

As with any of Lillymo’s output, the writing isn’t essential. However, it adds a lot to the experience. Getting context helps a great deal, and the sing-songy nature of it is sure to help make the experience better for children like mine. There’s also a fun cookbook of enemy recipes that’s worth quite a few chuckles. In addition to the story being new, there’s so much other content here for the $10 price tag. You can of course just blow through the 50 standard levels in a sitting or two and call it good, or you can take the time to 100% each level, which will take far longer. In addition to collecting BAKE (think KONG) on each level, there are time trials, flawless runs, and secrets to be found. There are also 5 additional levels you can unlock which are sure to test your skills, even when attempting to just get through them. The game also offers secret characters that play a bit differently, and may be more helpful for the speed runs/collection runs.

The game wears its inspiration on its sleeve, with the various level designs (minecarts, underwater, even the gravity flips reminded me of Mega Man 5) and the life gauge for our star baker. Full life sees our hero in a hat with a beard, brandishing both a melee and range capable whisk. One hit and you lose the hat and the special attacks, but you’re still able to jump on guys with that sweet beard. At one life left, you’re baby-faced and looking like Jayson from Man vs. Game. The controls are mostly tight, although they have an older feel. They aren’t as crisp and responsive as Super Meat Boy, but they’re also not as punishing as early Castlevania games.

Speaking of platforming, as good as it generally is, this is where most of my gripes lie. I will be the first to say that my skills have diminished severely over the years. However, the game will at times force you to get a perfect jump to progress, where even a pixel early will result in a death. For the secret levels I can understand this, but for the general levels, it became a bit frustrating. Yes, you can spend collected cookies on items such as an extra chef hat, which will generally be beneficial if enemies are your concern, but a single gap had me turning off the game for the rest of the day after one too many deaths. The bouncing mechanic on enemies/pancakes/balloons also seemed to be a bit inconsistent, which was annoying when it was necessary to time something just right to make a jump, only to have the bounce be a short one.

The game features a boss level at the end of each section, and these levels are a big difference from the rest of the game. On top of the interesting level navigation, the battles are especially fun to watch and figure out. These aren’t all that difficult, but they are some of the most fun you can have in the game. The animation work is on full display here, and as nice as the rest of the game looks, it’s here that the artistry shines. I half expected the first boss fight to go full Paul Robertson on me as his attacks changed.

Lillymo Games now has two platformers, one brick breaker, and two shoot-‘em-ups. It’s nice to see a studio expand its catalogue with different genres and see what works for them. I’m interested to see if they’ll ever settle into a single genre after exploring several, or if they’ll always be this eclectic. One thing is for sure: their output is only getting better.

8 out of 10

Pros

• Plenty of Replay Value
• Fun Enemy Designs
• Clever Writing

Cons

• Occasional Control Inconsistencies
• Some Platforming Expectations

Super Perils of Baking was developed and published by Lillymo Games. It is available on NS, PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox. The game was provided to us for review on PS4. If you’d like to see more of Super Perils of Baking, check out the game’s official site.

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