I impulse-bought Polyroll on sale in the eShop a few months ago. My expectations for the game were pretty low: As much as its similarities to Sonic drew me in, they also made me nervous. Those mechanics are hard enough for Sonic Team to get right, so even the most well-regarded homages usually feel off to me.

But I was pleasantly surprised by Polyroll! Beneath its cute but somewhat generic retro aesthetic (which feels torn between Master System proportions and Genesis colors) is a solid, rewarding platformer that stands apart from Sonic in a few key ways:

• The "rolling" mechanic feels a lot more versatile than the spin dash, especially when combined with a jump for upward movement.
• The game's main levels are all fun and approachable, but greater challenges await should you collect enough gems to unlock extra portions of the world map. The gems are fun to find, and since some of the optional paths lead to permanent upgrades, they feel substantially rewarding.
• The boss battles are really creative. Once I figured out a boss's patterns, it became a simple matter of execution to take them down. I died often, but it always felt like my fault, which made it easier to try again.
• Although there are no "signposts" or other visible level checkpoints, the game is merciful: Lives are limitless, you always respawn at the beginning of boss battles, and collectibles like gems are retained (even if you exit to the world map).

Like Ristar, Polyroll feels like a game plucked from an alternate universe where platformers weren't so heavily indebted to Nintendo. It isn't perfect, but it delivers 4 or 5 hours of throwback fun. More people should check it out!