Often times multiple authors wind up playing the same game at the same time but the differences between consoles may not warrant two separate reviews. Dual Screens is a segment on Galaxy of Geek where two authors review the same game but each offer their own perspective and score. 

Nintendo Switch By: Frank Duran

Awesome Pea is full of nostalgia but this game isn’t like most modern nostalgia trips, it also has the old school game play to back it up. Old school with no added frills. The game plays like it came out on Game Boy, in all its green glory instead instead of in 2019. Some might miss the modern sensibility that is deliberately left out of this game. Yet if you look back at those Game Boy days fondly, this is a great Pick up for the price.

Awesome Pea, like many older games, demands perfection from you. If you mess up, even slightly, you start the whole level over. I am not great at Platformers, I enjoy them but I am not good at them. So Awesome Pea was a tough play for me but one I enjoyed. The music is infectious and the graphics are simple but fun. Your little Pea buddy bounces along to the music and you instantly connect with this green blob. It is not an easy game and that might put off a lot of people. Yet for the price, you can get a good amount of game here. Unless you are perfect like Tristan and then it is only two hours long. I have put over 4 hours in and I am still not perfected every level.

If you miss when platformers were actually hard, Awesome Pea might be for you.

Frank’s score: 7 out of 10

Xbox One By: Tristan Rendo

The first thing anyone booting up Awesome Pea is going to notice is the aesthetics. As Frank noted, this game looks like it is pulled straight from your old brick style Game Boy. The game even contains a pair of filters to add CRT/Tube effects to the visuals. Of course the game is actually in HD and plays much better than those old Game Boy games did but for fans of the classic game style there’s no doubt that this will appeal to you. Though it is worth noting I found the CRT/Tube effects too distracting and immediately disabled them. Other than the fact that playing the game for extended periods of time on an HD TV will really mess with your eyes (soooo much green) I loved the simple, dripping in nostalgia, style.

Beating level 1-6 of #AwesomePea with all treasures #Xbox pic.twitter.com/dklFr0Pabb

— Tristan Rendo (@TristanRendo) February 20, 2019

While I’ve spent many hours playing FPS games over the years, I cut my gaming teeth on NES and Game Boy platformers and Awesome Pea is right up my alley in this regard. The deliberate but quick movements needed to make it through levels provides an experience that is both hectic but also tightly controlled. I found that the game was demanding in terms of nailing your jumps but not so much as to be impossible to beat.

In the end I found Awesome Pea too easy if anything (sorry Frank) and was able to get 1000/1000 achievements (which are all based on getting “all treasures” for all levels) in about 2 hours. It’s a credit to the game that I wanted there to be more levels but it is also a sore point that I blew through the game so quickly. Even something like leader-boards for best times on levels (or allowing you to race a ghost of your best time) would add significant replay value to the game, but as it sits currently the only reason I have returned to the game since beating it was to record some game captures.

I would regret not calling out the music in the game as well. While some levels had soundtracks that were a bit too short (causing them to repeat a little too often) most of the music fit the game perfectly. An updated version of the type of music that accompanied Game Boy games. When done right, music in a platformer should feel like it is almost in sync with your actions. Like if you could nail a flawless run it would be a perfectly in sync music video and Awesome Pea largely succeeds at this.

All treasure run on level 4-2 of #AwesomePea. Think this my favorite piece of music in the game too. pic.twitter.com/ARTwkdBfNH

— Tristan Rendo (@TristanRendo) February 21, 2019

Weather or not you love Awesome Pea is going to come down to one of two things: do you love run and jump platformers and/or do you have a soft spot for Game Boy games of old. If you answered yes to either then Awesome Pea definitely has something to offer for you.

Tristan’s score: 7.5 out of 10

Final Rating: 7.25/10

GoG Break Down:
Console Played On: Xbox One & Nintendo Switch
Time to completion: 1-2 hours
Price Bought at: Review code was provided
Why you should buy it: You’ve played every Game Boy game in your collection worth playing
Why you shouldn’t buy it: You really dislike the color green.