The Messenger

Push Square

Stephen Tailby·Mar 19, 2019

Critic80/100

Agreement—

The Messenger is a rock solid action platformer that balances out its retro stylings with modern touches and brilliantly slick controls. Blasting through the lengthy story is compelling, as new story beats and abilities are thrown into the mix. It perhaps flies a little too close to the sun later on as you hunt down the final few collectibles, but by and large, it's a cloud-stepping joy. Fans of 2D action games should have a blast with this, and that's a message we're happy to pass along.

IGN

Mitchell Saltzman·Sep 5, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

The Messenger loses a ton of momentum in the second half of its adventure, but taken as a whole, it's a great modernization of a classic genre

GameSpot

Alexander Pan·Aug 28, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Inspired by the 8-bit and 16-bit action-platformers of yesteryear, The Messenger is an ambitious and well-balanced side-scroller that's as difficult as it is funny.

Game Informer

Brian Shea·Aug 28, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

The Messenger is a strong throwback to action platformers like Ninja Gaiden with welcome twists.

Nintendo Life

Mitch Vogel·Aug 28, 2018

Critic90/100

Agreement—

2D side-scrolling action games like The Messenger may be a dime a dozen these days, but you'd be missing out on something special by passing this one up. Featuring a surprisingly long campaign, an incredible soundtrack and tight, challenging level designs, The Messenger stands as a shining example of great game design. We'd highly recommend you pick this one up; it's the very definition of a modern classic.

Polygon

Chris Plante·Aug 27, 2018

Critic—

Agreement—

Go ninja, go ninja, go!