VVVVVV

VVVVVV is a Platformer game that was developed by Terry Cavanagh for the Nintendo 3DS and was released on December 29, 2011. The player controls Captain Viridian, who at the outset of VVVVVV must evacuate the spaceship along with the captain’s crew when the ship becomes affected by “dimensional interference”. The crew escapes through a teleporter on the ship; however, Captain Viridian becomes separated from the rest of the crew on the other end of the teleporter.

Upon returning to the ship, the Captain learns that the ship is trapped in an alternative dimension (referred to as Dimension VVVVVV), and that the ship’s crew has been scattered throughout this dimension. The player’s goal, as Captain Viridian, is to rescue the missing crew members and find the cause of the dimensional interference. Unlike most platforming games, in VVVVVV, the player is not able to jump, but they instead can reverse the direction of gravity when standing on a surface, causing Captain Viridian to fall either upwards or downwards. 

This novel feature was first seen in the 1986 8-bit game Terminus. The player uses this mechanic to traverse the game’s environment and avoid various hazards, including stationary spikes and moving enemies. Later areas introduce new mechanics such as moving floors or rooms which, upon touching one edge of the screen, cause the player character to appear on the other side.