Circle Entertainment, the publishers of The Legend of Dark Witch, have had a bit of a spotty record with some of their past releases on the 3DS system; though we particularly enjoyed their latest 3DS eShop game, Demon King Box. Their latest release is in the form of a 2D platformer in which you attack your way to victory through a Mega Man inspired series of levels, but does it manage to hold up to their recent successes?

The Legend of Dark Witch revolves around a Goddess by name of Zizou Olympia, who sets off on a quest to restore the power of the stolen Syega, a magic providing substance, to the world that relies heavily upon it for survival. Your journey consists of Mega Man-esque levels, all accessible in any order, containing a long path to each boss battle at the end. As you defeat bosses, you earn their respective attacks to use in future battles, which in Mega Man fashion will help you take down the other bosses quickly.


Thus your arsenal is limited at first to simply shooting at enemies and jumping over gaps, but the level design is challenging enough that this is just as fun as the later levels. One unique featureof levels is that each one starts off the same, in a blue northern lights inspired area which is likely the heavens, and you descend down to earth and into the level. At a certain point the level design transitions into that of the level's theme, wether it be a forest or a library, and the music changes to that of the level.

Once you reach the main portion of the levels, you'd be hard pressed to not notice the simply gorgeous pixel art adoring each level. Everything from the enemies to the background are all drawn in great detailed 2D art which really breathes life into The Legend of Dark Witch. The levels all have separate soudtracks as well, making each one a unique and fun experience.


As we previously mentioned, you recieve power ups for defeating each boss at the end of levels, but this is far from the only customization feature available to you. As you defeat enemies you recieve a form of currency, which are oddly dark colored butterflies, called Tres. This Tres is then useful for two different forms of powering up, one of which takes place right in the levels themselves. As you acquire Tres, a meter will fill up on screen, which allows you to select different power ups, from a speed boost to different powered and shaped attacks. This bar is reset every time you retry a level, and adds a deep layer of strategy to the game that directly affects your progression.

Tres also accumulates in the form of currency, and outside of levels can be spent on permanent upgrades, including extra health and lives, along with powering up individual attacks. You get to keep Tres from levels you've lost too, and this allows you to essentially level up in order to tackle more difficult levels. Overall, the combat system and rewards are expertly done, to the point where the game naturally supplies a near perfect difficulty curve; though there are still difficulty options to choose from for those of us who prefer a challenge.

The boss battles at the end of each level differ a bit from the main portions, in that you spend your time trying to survive and slowly wittle down the female warrior's health to zero. Memorization tactics are key to success here, and these are the areas in which you will die the most. Thankfully, no boss is too difficult to beat with a little effort, and the added bonus of the Tres collection adding to your power after every death.


While the game itself isn't very long to beat, you do unlock a selection of extras which will offer plenty of bang for your buck. By winning the game and completing objectives, you will slowly build up currency to unlock extras, from songs to artwork and more. Each playthrough will likely help you unlock something new, and you get another character to play through with after your first play through as well. There's no shortage of things to do, and as such The Legend of Dark Witch will keep you entertained long beyond the main game.

The Legend of Dark Witch manages to be a fair, fun, beautiful and challenging platformer all in one, all wrapped up in some fantastic pixel art and at the low budget price of $3.99. The Legend of Dark Witch's balancing is perfect for hardcore and newcomers to platformers alike, and for that alone Circle Entertainment should be congratulated, for making a platformer that can appeal to nearly everyone who tries it.


Review copy provided by Circle Entertainment.