"Young Thor" is the newest Mini from the great minds of Frima. It has a simple story; The "Norns" have been kidnapped by Hel, ruler of the underworld. Thor, the God of Thunder is the only God who would dare to take on Hel and release the Norns. Thor has to make his way through Midgard to take on Hel, and release the Norns.
The controls for the game are also very simple, as you would expect from a Mini. It is very God of War in the way it controls, with the square button being used for quick attacks, and triangle being used for heavy attacks. There's also the option of using the circle button for a special magic attack.
Young Thor is, perhaps, one of the simplest Minis to get used to. You've played it many times before, in other guises. The controls and HUD are reminiscent of God of War, the checkpoints reminiscent of platformers like Crash Bandicoot. However, Young Thor manages to borrow elements from these games without seeming like a complete mish-mash of other games, as it is done so well. Also, though the combat and platforming are very simple, they never fail to be rewarding; especially when a mighty hit from your weapon results in the enemy flying towards the screen and hitting with a satisfying "thump." Levelling up also never fails to be satisfying. Despite the combat appearing deceptively simple at the very beginning of the game, it does in fact become pretty difficult in the later levels, requiring you think think about what you are doing, and if it really is the best way to get passed the area you are in. There was one point, in only the second level, where i had to spend a good 10 minutes of constant dying and respawning at the last checkpoint. In fact there is one point midway through the game which gets incredibly annoying with constant deaths and respawns. For some this will be a complete turn off, but for me it added a lot to the gameplay experience.
It's not only the combat that is satisfying; platforming is a massive part of Young Thor, and it is easy to see that Frima put a lot of effort in to getting it right. There are many parts of Young Thor that are dedicated solely to platforming (maybe with one or two enemies scattered about). Though these may be simple to fans of the genre who have been playing it since they were knee-high to a grasshopper, these parts always manage to be fulfilling.
The variation of enemies is as wide as your imagination, with Young Thor fighting everything from normal soldiers, to spider, angel things and strange giants in his quest through Midgard.
The gameplay and level variation is also pretty massive. Though gameplay is mostly incredibly linear, there are a few opportunities to explore, with some hidden areas along the way containing small bonus pickups such as "invincible for 20 seconds" or "Damage X 2 for 30 seconds" etc. Scattered along the linear path there are also new weapons and items to help you in your quest through Midgard, which is nice to see in a Mini.
There are a few niggles though, despite the overall brilliance of this Mini. There are a few points in the game where you are placed in a forcefield, whereby you cannot proceed until you have defeated all of the enemies that spawn in there. Whilst this is not a major problem at all, it seemed strange to me that i was being forced to fight, and it seemed like a way for Frima to artificially expand the length of the gameplay without adding anything extra.
Another bad thing about this Mini is, though it is mostly brilliant, occasionally awful level design. At one point in the third level i had absolutely no idea which direction i was supposed to go in, due to the way this part was designed. In cases like this, it would have been helpful that at least have some kind of signposting to help players find their way around.
Not to get bogged down with the negatives of this Mini, there is actually a lot of game here for your money. When you finish a level, you get a stats screen, before moving on to the level select. Here, not only can you select the next level of progress in the story, but each level on the same row is a variation of the same level. In all there are 13 levels to play through, which is, in my opinion, one of the best value for money you can get for any Mini. Even when you have finished the main story there are still many other variations to go through the get extra XP.
From a graphics point of view, even considering and taking into account that this game is a Mini, the details are actually pretty superb, as are the backgrounds. Okay, this isn't going to steal any medals from Uncharted in the graphics department...but it's definitely not ugly, in any sense of the word.
So, overall, is Thor worth your money? Definitely. As i have said this is one of the best values for money you will get from the Minis service, and it's good to see Frima breaking new ground with a Mini, making it longer and more interesting than any i have played so far. If you only have the money to ever buy one Mini again (or even one PSN game again) make it Young Thor. Sure, there are some niggles - the difficulty spikes being one of the more major of these - but none of this is enough to detract from the great fun and value for money that this game offers
