Infinite - Beyond the Mind is the project of small indie studio Emilie COYO, and it is being published by Australian publisher Blowfish Studios. In Infinite, two women, Tanya and Olga, who share a bond over their special powers, take it upon themselves to tackle the evil Queen Evangelyn of the Beljantaur Kingdom. When starting the game you can choose one of the two main characters, and you set out to rescue the other half who gets captured by said Queen.

The game does not explain much about the story, which makes it rather unclear as to why the Queen decides to capture you. It probably has something to do with your powers, as the Queen has a lot of powerful psychic followers at her disposal, which you will encounter as bosses throughout the game.

But the story is not why you should play Infinite. You should play it because it is an action-packed run-and-gun platformer. Although Tanya/Olga’s gun has been replaced with a slash attack, so a run-and-slash platformer would be more accurate. What follows is a very good 2D action game that reminds of classics such as Contra and Metal Slug, but also Mega Man and Ninja Gaiden spring to mind.

While the game starts off quite easy, soon the difficulty will ramp up and you are dodging and slashing your way through hordes of soldiers, tanks, turrets, helicopters, and drones. To do so, you have an arsenal that consists of a slash attack, a double jump, and a dodge roll. And if you are in a real pickle, you can hold the A button to call in a devastating air strike.

Tanya and Olga control well, and the ladies flow through the level like it is all they have been doing their whole life. Sometimes though, you get hit by a cheap shot, and sometimes it is not clear what hits you and what doesn't. Certain vehicles don’t damage you when you touch them, while others do. The same goes for certain elements in the level, like wire and blockades.

Luckily, these minor gripes don’t spoil the fun. The only real criticism is that the arsenal of your lady of choice feels quite limited, especially considering they both are some kind of superwoman. Again comparing Infinite with Contra and Metal Slug, these last two games let you pick up a variety of weapons. Olga and Tanya are limited to their slash attack, though. It does power up later in the game, when your true power slowly gets unleashed, but it is still the same moveset.

Every once in a while, you take to the sky and the game plays like a 2D shoot-em-up in the style of R-Type and the like, which is a nice variation. All in all, there are 16 worlds to combat through, each consisting of 1 or 2 areas and a boss battle. These boss battles are the highlights of the game. These bosses vary from fairly simple small tanks to screen-filling giants. Only one or two bosses are really frustrating. One, for example, relies on wall-jumping, and one slip means losing a life. But for the rest, the boss battles are satisfying and among the best parts of Infinite.

It is clear that Emilie COYO is a fan of the run and gun genre, but also has a love for science fiction movies. In the end screens after each level, you can find references to, for example, Terminator and Alien, which are a nice touch. Graphically, the game looks fine. It has adapted the pixel art which we have seen in many indie games as of late. Backgrounds look great though, and the environments are nice and varied, ranging from industrial areas, to forests, to outer space. For the in-game character models, Emilie COYO chose to go for a semi-cute “chibi” style, meaning small characters with big heads. Cute may be a strange choice for a game that is all about war, but hey, it worked for WarGroove and it works here as well.

The 16 levels will take about 3 - 4 hours to get through, which is a decent amount of time, considering the price of the game. After finishing it, you can always try to complete it again with the other character and up the difficulty. Or better yet, you can find a local friend and play the game in co-op, taking control of both Olga and Tanya. That the game includes couch co-op is a great addition.