Boti: Byteland Overclocked Logo
Boti: Byteland Overclocked Icon
Boti: Byteland Overclocked

Developer: Purple Ray Studio

Publisher: Untold Tales

Action
Adventure
Family
Retro
Arcade
  • Price: $19.99
  • Release Date: Jan 10, 2025
  • Number of Players: 1 - 2
  • Last on Sale: -
  • Lowest Historic Price: -
  • ESRB Rating: E [Everyone]
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Reviews:
  • Watch this review on YouTube
    While this may look like a pretty basic family-friendly 3D platformer (and it is to a degree), it struggles in key areas to meet that goal

    While platformers may not be as popular or as common as they once were on consoles, there’s certainly a fair number of them that continue to show up on the eShop at a steady pace. Of course, aside from the general competition out there, there’s absolutely an intimidation factor to releasing a platformer on a console that Mario built looming over you. While Boti may not have the polish and variety of the upper echelon titles in the space, it does at least attempt to compensate with some family-friendly charm.

    On the positive side, there’s no question that the game has a pretty cute overall look. Your bot’s default appearance is fine, but the fact that you’re able to dress him up in a variety of costumes helps to let you suit him nicely to your tastes, and it’s a fun touch. At a high level the controls are pretty accessible and basic, likely allowing the game to be enjoyed by players of almost any skill level, though that isn’t to say you won’t be asked to push those skills at times depending on the stage you’re on. In terms of the game’s feel, there’s an old-school collect-a-thon vibe that may be divisive, but thankfully much of what you’ll see is ultimately optional for moving on, so you won’t be forced to track it all down.

    Unfortunately, there are also some struggles, and some of those may be obstacles that could bewilder younger gamers. The open world style the game’s hub adopted is nice to explore a bit, but since it isn’t clear where you should be going it can also be a barrier to enjoyment. I managed to meander into a tougher area that demanded skills I’d apparently not acquired yet, and then also had difficulty getting out of it before finding the intended early stages. While I was able to recover, it just felt like an unnecessary annoyance. Among the other key issues, there can absolutely be challenges with depth perception at times. While being able to tell where you’ll land on platforms is handled pretty well overall, when there are objects in the air at times it can be a challenge to line them up effectively. The fact that there were also situations where I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to be doing, or why in some stages, knocked the experience down a peg or two as well.

    Overall, this isn’t necessarily a bad game, it’s just one that has its potential chipped away at by a wide variety of problems that collectively add up. While on paper it seems like it would be a good match for younger gamers, in execution simple things like knowing where to go at times could easily prove frustrating for them, so that’s a shame. The simple fact is that the Switch has an abundance of platformers that, for a variety of reasons, are simply better put together and more clearly enjoyable, making Boti a much tougher sell than it needed to be when all is said and done.


    Justin Nation, Score:
    Bad [5.8]
2025

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