2017 saw two great... well, one great and one good 3D platformer that received a lot of hoo-hah and praise accordingly. Meanwhile, back in late 2015 a quiet little gem popped onto the scene to silence, very few knew of its existence and it continues to be a hidden gem to this day...
I am, of course, speaking about FreezeME, an adorable game where you control Dora the Explorer original character "R" in a platforming adventure throughout the realms of Fat the Cat (someone's pinching my shtick, it seems) to gather some arbitrary golden cubes from three vast world to unlock the path to the dread-fiend's layer to rescue your best dog. The game plays a lot like Super Mario 64, down to slippery shoes. Thankfully, this game has a better camera (for the most part). What makes this game stand out though is the gimmick of R's Camera, which has the ability freeze moving objects in time and space.
This game encourages exploration, which is an aspect I love to see in games, and even more so in 3D platformers. In each level are 10 golden cubes to collect, and several green coins that can be traded in for more cubes. In addition to this are completely optional crystal salamanders that you can seek out that unlock goodies that you can access once you've beaten the game once, such as new costumes and effects. Oh, and I almost forgot, each world also has a single heart collectable that will permanently up your health to allow you to take more hits.
This game hosts three main worlds and a final boss world for your buttery bullet to traverse, as well as a handful of miniature challenge levels for some extra green coins. In addition to the normal jumping and freezing, your character will also eventually gain the ability to go super saiyan enter rage mode, gaining increased strength to destruct certain objects and the ability to glide like Wing Cap Mario from Mario 64. Throughout these worlds, you will encounter many colorful characters and have your ears graced with a delightful soundtrack that just begs to be listened to.
To wrap things up, this game takes a bit of getting used to at first to learn how to control your bumble-bee shirted photographer proper but is usually fine after that (exceptions being precise platforming segments where R's slippery tendencies tend to really stand out). This game has a lot of charm to it, though the ending is a bit naff. This game is available on Xbone, PS4, Wii U, and, of course, the trusty ol' computer via Steam. If you love 3D platformers and are willing to put up with a touch of wonkiness, then give FreezeME a shot. I'm fairly confident you'll have a fun time.