Sunday, November 4, 2012
By: Matthew Doucette

Just a short note about one of the best and most polished XBLIG platfomers ever, Gateways (xbox.com; steam; desura). It's a 2D platformer where you have a gateway (portal) gun. And it costs $1 (80 MSP).

Gateways! September 2012 trailer.

A quick check on one of the most brutal and unforgiving XBLIG reviewers out there, Indie Gamer Chick, and she has it ranked as her #2 XBLIG game of all time, with a note that it almost made #1:

Halfway through Gateways, I had it pegged as the new #1 game on my site, and that Escape Goat had been slain. No joke. It has the most awesome hook of any XBLIG to date (2D Portal, enough said), a developer with big time credentials (a game on XBLA and a game already on my leaderboard), amazing retro-graphics, and some of the most clever puzzles I’ve ever seen in any game. #1? It’s a lock. - http://indiegamerchick.com/2012/09/15/gateways/

Another Indie Gamer Chick quote worth mentioning:

...describing Gateways as essentially being a 2D Portal is way over-simplifying things. Portal was never this smart, nor did it give you this many things to do.

I have not finished the game. I have only just begun. I have been playing with an eight year old who is infatuated with the game. This type of attraction is the X-factor all games wish they had. From this premature standpoint, I feel that Gateways deserves an XBLA contract.

P.S. The developer, Smudged Cat Games, also has an XBLA title, The Adventures of Shuggy (xbox.com). I have completed all 12 of its achievements (200/200 Gamerscore); See on my TrueAchievements page (all completed games, just Shuggy). It is quite an innovative and underrated game. Check it out. XBLA is where we want Duality ZF . Much respect!

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About the Author: I am Matthew Doucette of Xona Games, an award-winning indie game studio that I founded with my twin brother. We make intensified arcade-style retro games. Our business, our games, our technology, and we as competitive gamers have won prestigious awards and received worldwide press. Our business has won $190,000 in contests. Our games have ranked from #1 in Canada to #1 in Japan, have become #1 best sellers in multiple countries, have won game contests, and have held 3 of the top 5 rated spots in Japan of all Xbox LIVE indie games. Our game engines have been awarded for technical excellence. And we, the developers, have placed #1 in competitive gaming competitions -- relating to the games we make. Read about our story, our awards, our games, and view our blog.