Lyle in Cube Sector

4 CAVE STORY INSPIRED METROIDVANIA. IN A GOOD WAY.
This is a really cute non-linear exploration platformer. It borrows the throwing mechanic from Super Mario Bros. 2, making throwing blocks your primary attack, as well as a novel means for maneuvering.

It’s fun, the graphics and music are NES-styled and good. About the only complaint I have is the difficulty curve. The game pretty hard after an hour or so of progress.

But check this game out, it’s a real gem. Especially if you like Metroid… or Cave Story.

5 THE BEST FREEWARE GAME YET
I can safety say that Lyle in Cube Sector is one of my favorite games to date. It is an extremely retro yet polished game in almost every way. I don’t really see the Cave Story comparison because to me this thing screams original NES Metroid, especially graphically. The game’s music, while not original, was very well selected and very fitting.

The plot is simple but effective: A hooded man comes by your house one day and steals your cat who’s sleeping outside. As Lyle, it’s your job to go after the kidnapper and rescue your beloved pet.. but it sure as hell won’t be very easy.

LiCS is actually pretty challenging. The end boss has 2 forms and I’ve found it overall to be borderline extremely hard. Even with all the HP and CP (cube power) orbs to the max I can’t defeat it every time still. It’s funny to see how he changes to his 2nd form, and why that cat is so important to him.

It should also be noted that although your main attack is to lift and throw cubes you won’t be able to do this right away until you find the correct power-up first. Cubes come in different varieties: Regular, Regenerating, Exploding (!), Huge, and Yellow. The yellow ones have HP and CP refillers inside.

Lyle can grab many power-ups throughout his adventure. There’s one for heavy lifting, a little-used but cool one for kicking cubes horizontally, one that lets you throw cubes straight downward and jump higher than before, and the best one which allows you to create phantom cubes from thin air. You can use these last 2 powers to chain jumps in mid-air much like Samus’s space jump in the Metroid games. Each cube you create drains some CP so you’ll have to search far and wide for CP max increases.

Many cool secrets are out there waiting to be found like hidden orbs, interesting environmental puzzles, and even a secret room with a basketball hoop. If you haven’t played this yet do yourself a favor and check it out.