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There comes a time in every gamer’s life, and I guess this time is now for myself, when his/her body begins to change. Big publishers are somewhat more sinister in the changing gamer’s point of view, and many of their more low-key efforts are forgotten in favor of titles from developers no one’s ever heard of, or one with an incredibly small fanbase. Of course, I’m talking about indie game development – the sect where we see most of the original ideas that appear in big-name titles a couple of years later.

Saira is one of those games. Set in a free-roaming galaxy, Saira is an episodic game where you control the title character through various platforming and puzzle challenges. Many of the puzzles are simple if you manage to explore the various worlds thoroughly, as they are printed on walls or hills or the like. Saira then can use her camera to snap a screenshot of the area, and refer back to it later when opening a force field lock or some other puzzley thing.

The game’s look is interesting – it’s very retro while still feeling crisp and new. The movement of the Saira character is smooth and slick, but her character design recalls Flash platformers of old. The environments, despite being 2d, feel like they have a 3d aspect to them – the sun will shine in your eyes as you pass it on one planet, for example. So, in summary, the images are nice, but this is still an indie game and not a big-publisher title, and that can be determined right away.

The basic gameplay is simple, and the game’s tutorial does a good job in teaching you effective strategies to play, but a player with serious Mega Man experience or preferably Ninja Gaiden might feel most at home here – there are a lot of sections of this title that require wall-jumping over low, hazardous areas. Which is where it can get severely annoying. Saira, like any platforming character, sometimes gets confused concerning which button you are actually pressing – jump or the “not jump” button, and she will occasionally fall to her doom as a result.

The game’s story, the real meat of the game, is interesting. It has somewhat of a “dark fairy tale” feel to it, and is told through alternating cutscenes earned from game completion/travel to other star systems. In the first episode, she must travel alone to find transporter components to chase after her old friend. Through gameplay, you actually would feel somewhat for the character as you platform and puzzle your way to the goal of the episode.

Now, there are planets to travel to, and your ship needs to be charged in order to do so, so sometimes finding a planet with a charger might be annoying, but it’s not something major. The planets are diverse and interesting, and all present interesting challenges for the player to conquer.

Rundown:

The Good: Great platforming experience with a good story.

The Bad: Controls are somewhat clunky, menu navigation is bothersome.

The bottom line: Saira is a great game for the snow, but only if you’re prepared for some cheap deaths.