Cody’s Nightmare is a 2D Run & Gun primarily focused on boss battles. It takes place in a child’s nightmares after seeing his sister’s unnerving one-eyed toy bear before bed. Upon nodding off, he suddenly finds himself in a cloud-covered overworld, where he must venture through eleven stages filled with his deepest fears. In eight of these stages, the focus is entirely on defeating the towering bosses that impede our progress. The remaining three are more traditional platforming levels at the beginning of our journey. Whatever our challenge or foe, we have Cody’s trusty laser blaster to rely on.
One of the most notable aspects of this title is the gorgeous pixel art. Everything displayed showcases high attention to detail and creativity. All the stages feature their own background, enemies, and gimmicks. I don’t believe there are any repeated assets between them. It makes good use of this dream scenario to give us a lot of variety, given levels don’t have to be connected thematically. That makes it all the more of a shame when you start the first level and quickly notice it is light on sound effects. This causes gameplay to feel more lifeless than it should. It tries to mask it by having the music and blaster effect set loudly, yet it doesn’t sit right with the ears.
The gameplay is accessible, with the only buttons being to jump, shoot, or tilt Cody’s blaster at an angle for flying enemies. Slaying our foes causes them to drop candy as a currency. It allows us to buy a more powerful weapon that fires either multi-shot or heat-seeking projectiles. If you’re experienced with the genre, I’d advise against using them. They are overpowered and will have you beating this game so fast your head will spin. Even with the basic weapon and constantly losing against the last boss, it came at a playtime of 35 minutes. Cody’s Nightmare does have a moderate challenge while using the default blaster. I failed more often than not when facing a boss for the first time, making overcoming them that much sweeter.
Cody can take up to three hits, and no forms of healing exist. The three traditional levels feature death pits that are instant death. They are short, so returning to where you missed a jump won’t take long. I also appreciate how the candy from slain enemies carries over regardless if you reach the end. That will help struggling gamers and avoids having to grind for the more powerful blasters. It’s a shame there aren’t additional non-boss stages. The final one offered was exhilarating as it had finally found its stride regarding difficulty. With all of them being towards the beginning of the game, the whole candy aspect quickly becomes irrelevant, given bosses don’t grant any.
When it comes to replay value, there is a bit, thanks to it tracking how much health you had at the end of a level. They also track the time it took. Your HP is represented as buttons, and it can be tempting to try again when we see we didn’t get a perfect score. There are no Steam Achievements, which is a missed opportunity to encourage us to spend more time playing. I would also like to mention that Cody’s Nightmare didn’t take keyboard controls as an afterthought. The required keys are set logically. You won’t ever need to reach for the mouse. It already reminded me of 90s titles like Monster Bash, so that was a pleasant surprise. There is a slight glitch when exiting the shop shows the pause screen briefly, but that doesn’t occur with controllers.
The most significant deterrent to this game is its price of ten US dollars. I personally love both boss rush titles and shorter Arcade-like experiences, yet Cody’s Nightmare lacks the polish associated with their length. This is mainly felt in the sound effects and audio mixing. Allow me to give an example. There is a stage that has you riding on top of a train while fighting a massive ghost. Said train makes no sound. What you’ll be hearing is loud music accompanied by a severe lack of sound effects. Those that exist are heavily muted, bar the blaster. It lacks a needed component to make the scene feel lively. The fight is fun, and the pixel art remains stunning. A lack of polish does not mean bad. It means there is something detracting from the overall package.
When all is said and done, I did enjoy my time with Cody’s Nightmare. The simple gameplay was kept fresh due to the short length and high difficulty that keeps you constantly moving. It was always exciting to see what happens next. One moment may have you fighting a shark inside of a toilet. In the next level, we have Count Swagula stylishly walking after us. This game is memorable, flawed, and overall decent. If you were to ask me if it was worth the full price, I’d say no. There is no Hard Mode or additional content to keep one playing. Beating our own scores is not enough. It doesn’t consider the weapon we use, removing the skill aspect. Cody’s Nightmare in its current state is worth keeping an eye on, but I’d wait for a sale.
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