SKELOST Review – A Free Side-Scrolling Action Platformer With an Intriguing Soundtrack and Art Design!

Sometimes I find a title that I didn’t know anything about, but want to try it out because I like aspects of the trailer. The most recent game that gave me that reaction was SKELOST, a free Action Platformer developed for the Gameboy Color (GBC) and intended to celebrate the 27^th anniversary of the system.

After playing it, I must admit that I found little connection between the game and the GBC’s anniversary. Yet, I still think the trailer is pretty neat (linked here)! As I watched it again for the purposes of this review, I was impressed by the soundtrack and how it mentioned yokai and shooting through Japanese folklore.

Gameplay

What you actually do in the game is control a cat who has a gun and goes down into a well. Once at the bottom, you explore the different areas, shoot the few enemies you find, and make your way across standard platforming challenges. Meanwhile, you search for yokai who will restore your health and opportunities to increase your life bar by reading epitaphs on tombstones.

Much of this is kind of simple, with a limited number of enemies on the screen at a time and few attack options available. I say the latter because you cannot fire more than one bullet at a time. There’s also almost never more than one enemy on the screen at once. In regard to gameplay, its main innovation is that you can shoot your gun upward at any point. This is useful to do during some boss fights.

As I played the title, I thought the control was good and worked well. The jumping wasn’t too floaty, and even with my limited firepower, my ability to attack the enemies was sufficient. I never felt like, “I wish there was a weapon upgrade somewhere!” Additionally, I found the level design to be enjoyable, and I liked the combination of limited exploration mixed in with platforming challenges.

Art Design and Music

Although, let me say here that the gameplay isn’t unique. Still, what makes it stand out is its art design and music.

For starters, SKELOST makes good use of the color depth of the hardware, which is highlighted at various times in the title’s four levels. For instance, there’s faux lighting visible near the beginning of stage 1, water effects when you go in and out of the swamp in another, and one place where you’re entirely under water.

Through it all you’ll often come across different yokai who have intriguing designs to them and other signs of Japanese influence at various points. Even the names of the bosses have Japanese names. These different aspects helped keep me interested in the game as I played it.

On top of that there’s also the great music. Most of the time it isn’t very intense, but the pieces are fitting considering the areas you’re exploring and the title’s graphical style. Oddly enough, I felt that some compositions worked particularly well thanks to SKELOST’s light use of color. Not all the music is like that, though. Some tunes are really rocking, especially the boss music!

There are also sound effects for firing your gun, but I didn’t think much of them. The game’s music was the most important aspect of the sound design.

More About the Game

Before concluding this review, I’d like to elaborate on it a bit more. I really think the game’s style is a big part of my enjoyment of it. The epitaphs were intriguing, as were the statements from the various yokai. Not that they made much sense to me, but they sometimes spoke of the upcoming boss of the area. That contributed to facing them being a little more interesting than they would have been otherwise.

Similarly, the names of the bosses were curious to me, even if I didn’t know what they meant.

Despite SKELOST’s gameplay being simple, I enjoyed exploring each stage and trying to find the tombstones and yokai. These weren’t difficult to do, but they made going through the stages more entertaining.

Perhaps my main disappointment from the game is that the page for it on itch.io says that you will uncover the fate of your lost family. Perhaps I missed it as I was playing, but I don’t recall much being said about them.

Maybe that will just make me want to play it again some time, especially since the game can be beaten in just 10-15 minutes. I even found it enjoyable enough to wish that there were more stages in it. Each level is an individual location with a boss at the end. Having a stage 1-2 and 1-3 before facing the boss would have been a good idea. Alas, there are only four in the whole game.

Final Thoughts

I ended up playing SKELOST a lot more than I thought I would. Especially considering the game’s short length. I enjoyed discovering how the game worked and what it was trying to convey to the player.

I didn’t think that the title was hugely impressive, but I had a good time with it. If I had to point out one thing I liked the most about it, it would definitely be the music. It fit the tone of the game like a glove and I was never let down by it.

I encourage those interested in its art style, tone, or music to check it out when you can. It’s currently available for free on itch.io. It should also be available on Steam soon. Here’s a link to it for when it’s released there.

Title: SKELOST (Itch.io page)
Genre: Action Platformer
Year Released: 2025
Developer: Casey Atkins (Homepage)
Available On: Gameboy Color, Itch.io, and Steam later.
Price Paid: Free

Remember, we can have different opinions about the games we play. If you like something more (or less) than I do, both of our perspectives are valid. Please see my Review Rating Scale to know more of how I rate games.