Low-intensity action platformer Itorah is hard to put down

There’s a definition of “pure” that’s proscriptive; a dogmatic adherence to surface details and strict rituals. I’m genuinely not thinking of any specific game, but many ‘retro’ inspired games fall into this way of thinking, and many more fans cut a good one down because of it.

Itorah, however, feels pure in the sense of capturing the essence, the heart of a good retro platformer, not just going through the motions to technically qualify for an arbitrary category. Aeons ago, it would have ported comfortably to your GameBoys and gramophones, and probably look just as pretty and feel just as good in motion, judging by the talented art direction on show here.