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There's no shortage of Metroidvania games making the rounds these days with indie affairs like Guacamelee, Knytt Underground and La-Mulana a stone's throw away, but indie developer Moise Breton's Kickstarter project A.N.N.E. looks different. While its 16-bit aesthetic and chiptune music seem rather spiffy, what really sets A.N.N.E. apart is its ship.Maybe it's just me, but I've always felt a twinge of disappointment in any game where I enter a ship and never get to control it in real-time. Mass Effect's Normandy, Samus' gunship, and Batman's batplane always felt like missed opportunities to me and the seamless connection between the on-foot and on-sea maritime exploration in Wind Waker remains my second favourite thing about that game (the first being the visuals, obv).
A.N.N.E. picks up where Wind Waker left off by letting your robot avatar, No.25, cruise around in his ship "The Great Whale." The Great Whale can use its tractor beam to manipulate large objects in the environment, position itself to function as a makeshift platform, or use its firepower to blow your opposition to smithereens. Best of all, you can enter and exit your craft at will with a very quick and smooth transition where the camera zooms in or out accordingly. I'm struggling to think of other 2D exploration-based games that do this and while I'm sure someone will point out an example or two in the comments, the point stands: this should be done more.
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