For those of us who grew up with a Game Boy, there is nothing quite like the yellow-green color palette where we played Tetris or Pokémon for the first time. Save me Mr Tako! looks to re-capture that original portable nostalgia when it releases on the Switch eShop in the not-too-distant future. I had a chance to play a short demo of the game at PAX West, and the funny name isn’t the only thing that stands out about this one.

Save me Mr. Tako is a 2D metroidvania with Zelda-like elements. You primarily control Mr Tako, an octopus who can shoot ink and other projectiles to open gates, stun enemies, and solve puzzles. As you navigate the game’s dungeons and world map, you discover hats that you can equip to change your abilities. You will also play some areas of the game from other perspectives, such as different octopi and humans. There are NPCs to talk to, side quests to complete, and mini-games to play, so there is a fair bit to experience. It may look like a Game Boy game, but there is a lot more under the hood with this title, and if you get tired of the standard Game Boy color palette, you can switch between more than a dozen other color schemes, a definite “octoplus” in my books.

In the demo I played, I explored a dungeon with switches that needed to be activated to open doors, some of which were on a timer. Movement and bubble shooting felt solid, and the gameplay was easy to grasp. I found a Robin Hood hat that allowed me to shoot arrows, and at checkpoints in the game you can put on any of the hats you have previously unlocked. There wasn’t a ton of stuff to do in the demo, and I found the end of the dungeon fairly quickly, but I was assured that other dungeons have enemies and bosses that need to be overcome. There is also a hub world that allows you to access the various dungeons.

One annoying element that I encountered was when some switches turned off or doors shut closed, the camera moved away from my character to show those events taking place, and it was a little jarring to lose sight of my character during the transition. My hope is that this situation doesn’t occur too frequently in the game.

Nonetheless, the overall look and feel of the game have me thoroughly excited, and Save me Mr Tako! is a game I have had my eye on since it was first announced. It should be a matter of weeks before it arrives on Switch. If you’re looking for a Game Boy nostalgia fix or a light and quirky metroidvania, save the date for Mr Tako.