Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition

Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition was released in 2012 as an anniversary remaster of a cult cinematic platformer created in 1991 by French author Eric Chahi, which was ahead of its time in the way it told its story. The player takes on the role of scientist Lester Knight Chaykin, transported after an experiment accident into a hostile alien world, where he must survive through careful movement, dodges, and only a few, but well-measured actions.

The mobile version adapts the originally keyboard-based controls to virtual buttons and an on-screen stick, which for a game built on precise timing of jumps, dodges, and shooting requires some patience to get used to, though functionally the controls play surprisingly well. The remaster brings reworked graphics with smoothed vector shapes and more fluid animation, while also offering the option to switch back at any time to the original angular pixel look from the nineties for a direct comparison of both versions.

The game is still valued today for its cinematic storytelling without a single line of text, smooth transitions between individual scenes, and the atmosphere of solitude in a thoroughly hostile environment that defined the entire genre of so-called cinematic platformers at the time. Twenty years after the original, it showed that its minimalist design still holds up on a touchscreen phone. The short playtime and clear structure also make the remaster a suitable introduction for players who want to experience Another World for the first time.

Why play it: suitable for players interested in gaming history and atmospheric storytelling, less so for those who don't enjoy mobile controls for action sequences with precise jump timing.