Bionic Bay Review — Cosmic Horror Stretch Armstrong

Happy birthday to me! My gift? The chance to once again play Bionic Bay.

In case you missed my original coverage of the game back in March—an early preview opportunity given to me by the game’s developer—I lauded Bionic Bay as one of the few platforming puzzle games to really catch my attention recently. To quote myself:

“Bionic Bay is an utterly fun, utterly weird puzzle platformer that uses some simple yet intuitive mechanics to challenge both your brain and your platforming skills across incredibly unique levels. A great deal of this uniqueness comes from the game’s breathtaking art style, featuring beautiful hand-drawn backgrounds that feel immense in scale, make masterful use of lighting, and do a great job of visual storytelling.”

The developers once again gave me the chance to look at Bionic Bay, this time giving me access to the full version of the game just ahead of its launch. In my original preview, I had essentially nothing but good things to say about the game, even in its early state. Now, having experienced the full, finished version, I’m happy to report that everything I loved about Bionic Bay is still there, if not better than before.

Bionic Bay is a puzzle platformer set in a strange, biomechanical factory world where the rain is grease and the grass is fleshy goop. The game makes incredible use of its terrifying, dystopian setting—not only to make you feel small and at the mercy of crushing gears and stray lasers, but also to design creative platforming challenges built into the industrial landscape. You’ll ride shifting gears, dodge deadly machinery, and slide through narrow tubes into giant pits of goop—the origin of which you’re probably better off not knowing.

The core of Bionic Bay’s platforming lies in one of the game’s standout mechanics: a positional-swap system that lets you mark an inanimate object and teleport to its position—and vice versa. This mechanic is refreshingly unique and encourages and creates a special kind of mindset for problem-solving. A deadly laser in your way? Swap a box into its path. Need to cross a gap? Create a bridge by dropping a well-placed long object there. It’s a mechanic that requires both creativity and quick reflexes, as you’ll often need to fling yourself into danger and execute a swap at just the right moment to survive.

This isn’t the only power you’ll have in Bionic Bay, but I’ll refrain from spoiling the rest. What I will say is that you’re going to have a lot of fun with a certain other ability featured in the game.

What I love about the platforming in Bionic Bay is that the swap mechanic is always available, but not always the answer to the puzzle in front of you. When combined with puzzles that blend seamlessly into the environment, this creates clever challenges where the solution isn’t immediately obvious and rewards observation and experimentation.

Another thing I appreciate is how generous the game is with save points. Get stuck on a hard puzzle, beat it, and then immediately die in the next segment? No worries—there’s usually a checkpoint right at the start of the next section. It makes the game much more approachable for casual platformer fans and helps reduce frustration, especially compared to others in the genre.

What stands out most in Bionic Bay, above all else—and the feature that made me enjoy it the most—is the incredibly elastic nature of the protagonist. Explained early in the story as the result of a scientific procedure, your character can fling himself and survive falls that would destroy any normal human. You can jump farther, ragdoll with less risk, and even launch yourself midair, creating a vital long-distance movement option that plays a big role in many of the platforming sequences.

As I described in my original preview, this makes Bionic Bay feel like the video game equivalent of playing with a Stretch Armstrong. You’ll absolutely fling and abuse the protagonist just like the classic toy. It’s extremely satisfying to launch yourself at the peak of a jump or slide down a ramp and watch your character tumble and roll to the bottom.

If you’ve got a competitive streak and you’re reading this thinking, “Okay, so what’s in it for me?” you’ll be glad to hear that Bionic Bay features an online competitive multiplayer mode. Specifically, the game offers competitive level-based speedrunning—a unique take on the racing genre that has you hurling your character through levels as fast and precisely as possible, trying to beat others’ times in the hectic platforming challenges.

There’s not much more to add about Bionic Bay that I haven’t already said. My first impression back in March was great, and now that I’ve seen even more of it, I’m still thoroughly enjoying it. It takes a lot for me to enjoy a pure platformer, but with around 12 hours of gameplay and endless online potential, I’m confident others will enjoy Bionic Bay just as much as I did.

TryHardGuides was provided a PC review code for Bionic Bay. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Bionic Bay is available on Steam and PlayStation.