Tip Top: Don't Fall! PlayStation 5 Review

Tip Top: Don't Fall! is a collaboration between game developer Tristan Dahl and German animation studio Studio Huckepack. Published by Sometimes You, Tip Top: Don't Fall! is an arcade-style climbing game in which players scale procedurally generated rock faces. Tip Top: Don't Fall! was reviewed on PlayStation 5 but is also available on Xbox and Nintendo consoles. Players control rock climber Margo as she escapes from the big city on a tour of her country's varied mountain ranges.

Using the L1 button to grasp with the left hand and the R1 button to grasp with the right, players can choose to approach each rockface quickly or slowly. Quicker runs are riskier and rapidly use stamina, while slower ones require more caution. Using either the left or right analog stick, the player controls one arm at a time, with almost a whole 360-degree area of motion. Holding the L1, R1 and X buttons down will make Margo jump gaps (if she has the stamina), although sometimes the L1 and R1 buttons won't register Margo grabbing the handhold she has thrust herself up to. Almost like a spider, Margo's limbs contort and bend as she climbs and the animations on her gangly appendages are very impressive. Margo's limited AI will automatically move her legs and adjust her positioning to find foot placements; this looks great but also often triggers a bug where one of Margo's legs gets stuck pointing in a vertical position.
 

Each hand has its own circular stamina meter and players will have to regularly reach down to Margo's chalk bag with the relevant hand and hold X to apply chalk, this freshens her grip and renews her stamina. Tip Top: Don't Fall! is a balancing act of stamina management, choosing the right path, and deciding when to anchor to a hook. Hooks are fixed points on the map which allow Margo to secure a rope to the wall (again by guiding the nearest hand over to it and holding X) and should the player fall, attaching to the hook will save Margo. Giving the player another attempt, the hooks (in theory) allow numerous runs at the cliff face (if the player attaches to one on every attempt, often there are multiple hooks to attach to as Margo gets higher); in practice, Margo can only attempt the climb at most three or four times before she is too exhausted, and the game is over.

Game overs occur in two ways, either MArgo falls to her death, or she becomes too exhausted to continue. As Tip Top: Don't Fall! is a rogue-like this means that all progress made is wiped, and players must start the adventure again should they fail. The issue with Tip Top: Don't Fall!'s rogue-like features (permadeath and procedurally generated maps) is that, unlike other rogue-likes such as Enter the Gungeon (developed by Dodge Roll and published by Devolver Digital) or Slay the Spire (developed by MegaCrit and published by Humble Bundle), Tristan Dahl and Studio Huckepack's game just does not have a strong sense of progression or enough uniqueness within each run. While most rogue-likes reward players' perseverance with new weapons or gear or different obstacles and enemies to overcome; Tip Top: Don't Fall! and its laidback, simplistic gameplay lacks any variety within its different biomes and so cannot quite counterbalance the acute sense of repetitiveness that threatens most entries in the genre.
 

After the beachside tutorial levels, there are levels set in the woody Baby Hills; dense Jungle Top; the obnoxiously cloudy Dusty Peak (seriously, the clouds in the foreground are too large and too slow); the wet and windy Wilderness; the freezing Frozen Folly, and lastly the volcanic Summit. The maps are really nice to look at and the backgrounds, by artist Friedlich Schaper, are lively, bold, and shaded beautifully. The art style really shines here as Till Machmer's compositions combine with Almut Schwacke's music to create a set of calming, naturalistic environments.

The largest issue with Tip Top: Don't Fall! is its stamina system. The procedurally generated nature of the geography is not balanced well with the limited stamina, resulting in a number of runs becoming impossible to finish. The stamina drains much too quickly and does not renew after respawning. It is disappointing and frustrating to be three biomes in and attempt a run or two, only to have to quit to the main menu as the wedge of stamina left can barely get Margo off the ground. This poorly balanced stamina system, combined with little feeling of progression, dampens the experience. This is why playing with Permadeath turned off and 'Restart From Last Bolt' enabled should be recommended. At least to begin with. The core idea and gameplay are fun, and once Margo gets into a rhythm she flows upwards, climbing with adventurous freedom; but hitting that stamina block brings the experience to a dead halt. With 'Restart From Last Bolt' turned on though, the experience is better.
 

There is a second character unlocked once the climb has been completed once, but he does not play with any noticeable difference from Margo. Despite the unlockable character Adam being labeled as a 'Loose Cannon' on the character select screen, and Margo as an 'All Rounder', the pair play identically. One might expect a slight variation in gameplay from reading these labels (perhaps Margo is quicker than the bulkier Adam but consumes stamina faster) but there is none. Another character or two could have also added some variety to the game, and rewarded players playing, and completing, the climb more than once. Likewise, Tip Top: Don't Fall! has the potential to fit well into the speed-running scene, and a time trial mode with a less randomized design (for fairness) would not go amiss.

Tip Top: Don't Fall! is a good effort in the wrong genre. At $10 the game is reasonably priced for a few hours of entertainment. Perhaps with less of an insistence on being a rogue-like with random map layouts, and more thought put into creating a tough but fair, well-constructed set of climbing puzzles, Tip Top: Don't Fall! could gel together better. There is a lot to like about the game's presentation and animations but unfortunately the lack of impactful progression and the unfair stamina system harm the fun gameplay.

Tip Top: Don't Fall! is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
 

Alex Johnson, (@AlexJohnWriting)
News Editor, NoobFeed