ERSATZ

About

"Ersatz is a single-player platformer game with a speed-focused, intense action platformer experience and rhythm elements. The original electronic soundtrack is dynamic and builds based on your progression. Your dash serves as both your attack and dash recharge, enabling fast-paced chains of actions. With 8 challenging levels and a focus on speed, can you earn an S rank on every level and playstyle?"

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

100%

Audience ScoreBased on 22 reviews

music16 positive mentions

replayability3 negative mentions

Ersatz features a unique and engaging gameplay experience that combines challenging platforming with a dynamic soundtrack, enhancing the overall immersion.
The level design is exceptional, with each level offering unique mechanics and boss fights that require players to learn and adapt, providing a rewarding sense of accomplishment.
The game has a strong replay value due to multiple game modes and a focus on speedrunning, making it appealing for players who enjoy mastering their skills.

The game's steep learning curve can be overwhelming, making it difficult for some players to invest the time needed to master the mechanics.
Visual effects and color choices can sometimes obscure important gameplay elements, making it hard to see projectiles and other hazards.
While the game is rich in content, some players may find the difficulty of certain boss fights and achievements to be excessively punishing.

music
56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
66%
5%
The music in "Ersatz" is highly praised for its exceptional quality and integration into gameplay, with a dynamic soundtrack that evolves as players progress through levels. The game features varied musical genres, synchronized sound effects, and rhythm-based mechanics that enhance the platforming experience, making timing and movement closely tied to the music. While some earlier tracks may be weaker, the overall composition and interactive elements create a captivating auditory experience that players find engaging and enjoyable.
- “Ersatz is a challenging platformer game with a focus on the musical influence in the gameplay.”
- “The soundtrack is very dynamic and does not feel like an afterthought loop.”
- “Bullets and platforms are synchronized to the beat of the song playing, which combined with the core game mechanics creates a cool result in terms of player routing and play.”
- “The game was created in Game Maker, which is a small downside, so the limitations of the audio engine are fairly early reached. I'm pretty certain the developer found every thinkable possibility to give it the interactive music system that it uses, but that is certainly more than I had expected Game Maker to be capable of at all!”
- “The music is very varied in genre, and whilst some tracks are weaker (usually the earlier levels), you can tell the developer improved over development in almost all areas. The design also improves later on, though that may have to do with extended freedom in terms of difficulty.”
- “Each time you move into a new room, the soundtrack gets another layer.”
gameplay
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
78%
9%
The gameplay of "Ersatz" is highly praised for its challenging platforming mechanics that are intricately tied to the musical elements, with bullets and platforms synchronized to the beat of the soundtrack. Players appreciate the variety of unique mechanics across levels, themed around the eight functions of life, which enhance replayability and offer different playstyles. Overall, the game is recommended for those who enjoy skill-based platformers that emphasize rhythm and level mastery.
- “Ersatz is a challenging platformer game with a focus on the musical influence in the gameplay.”
- “If you like challenging platformers that use music as an integral part of the gameplay and you also enjoy speedruns in hard games, this is definitely a game you have to check out!”
- “Bullets and platforms are synchronized to the beat of the song playing, which combined with the core game mechanics creates a cool result in terms of player routing and play.”
- “Other than that, the levels, enemies, mechanics, and bosses are themed and named after the supposed 8 functions of life, which is a really nice touch. While not amazingly deep, it adds some level of cohesiveness to what would otherwise be somewhat disparate.”
- “The game also has several game styles that give the player character slightly different mechanics, which affect the way you play a surprising amount.”
- “In every level, there are several unique mechanics that somewhat fit the theme of the level, and these are all neat little things that I found surprisingly intuitive.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
70%
The graphics of the game are highly praised for their unique art style and impressive visual effects, including character animations and screen transitions. While some players feel that the aesthetic doesn't fully align with the game's mechanics, the overall artistic presentation and level design are well-received, making it a standout feature for fans of challenging platformers.
- “I really like this game, the mechanics of the game, and the art style. I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes challenging platformers.”
- “As far as the music and aesthetic go, I absolutely love it.”
- “I am not just talking about backgrounds; there are so many cool visual effects from character or screen transitions.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
50%
30%
The game offers significant replayability despite its short main campaign, primarily due to various alternative game modes that fundamentally alter gameplay. Players can engage in marathon challenges and focus on perfecting their runs, which enhances the overall experience for those who enjoy mastering level layouts and improving their times.
- “The main game is pretty short, but there are several alternative game modes, so there is a lot of replay value to be had.”
- “There's a marathon mode unlockable called Journey Mode that lets you run the whole game in one go, but I haven't messed with that or the other playstyles too much. The other playstyles in particular change the way the game is played on a fairly fundamental level and add that little extra to the game's replay value. Marathon mode is one challenging mode, at least for me :)”
- “Whilst not terribly long for a single run (think 2-3 hours for your first time if you're bad like me), there's a hell of a lot of replay value, and the game is basically designed for perfecting your routes, tricks, and runs to get the best times.”
- “If you like that kind of gameplay where you have to learn the layout of the level, it has a lot of replay value.”
- “(Note: there's a marathon mode unlockable called Journey Mode that lets you run the whole game in one go, but I haven't messed with that or the other playstyles too much. The other playstyles, in particular, change the way the game is played on a fairly fundamental level and add that little extra to the game's replay value. Marathon mode is one challenging mode, at least for me.)”
story
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
The game features a surprisingly engaging story that unfolds as players progress through its challenging normal mode. After completing the main narrative, players can further enhance their experience through speedrunning and improving scores, adding depth to the overall gameplay.
- “Despite my initial thoughts when I started the game, it does indeed have a story.”
- “The game is extremely challenging, and once you're done beating the normal story mode, there's much, much more you can go through, which includes getting better scores and times.”
- “Despite initial thoughts when I started the game, it does indeed have a story.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Overall, the game's optimization has improved significantly since its release, with initial performance issues now largely resolved, leading to a smooth gameplay experience for most users.
- “The game generally runs extremely well; at least for me, the performance issues present at release have since been ironed out.”