Genre: 2d platformer
Developer: Chronic Logic
Publisher: Chronic Logic

Gish's visuals can be divided into three aspects: the character art, the stage art, and the special effects. The character art looks extracted straight from a comic book, and is sharp, glossy, and rich. The stage art is a bit of a weak-point but at least looks colorful. The engine uses dynamic lighting, and the real-time shadows lend some tech-cred to the title.

Gish's dark, comic-book character is helped along by some wonderfully catchy, high-quality tunes that perfectly fit the attitudes of the stages. Sound effects are simple yet effective, and, in subtle ways, help to lend even more wonder to the ambient world of Gish.

Gish's extraordinarily well-paced maps and challenging boss encounters are played out by the player utilizing four core abilities: the ability to jump, to become slippery, heavy, and sticky are all required by each and every map, and are tied into the design in unpredictable ways. The game uses 100% real-time physics, and as such there are nearly endless ways to conquer each stage.

I vividly recall the first time I played Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog, when I could scarcely get past the first few stages; I had to actively wrap my mind around how to use the game dynamics to "solve" the platforming puzzle. Gish is the first time since those days that a platformer has felt so fresh, novel, and challenging. While Gish lacks a little spit-and-polish, the industry sorely needs more games like this.