Before I say anything about Owlboy, you need to know two things about its artist: 1) He’s partially colorblind, and 2) He used MS Paint to create the game. These aren’t disclaimers, these are two amazing points that highlight the quality of the game, which I saw as a beautiful throwback to the pixellated adventures only found in the days of the Super Nintendo.

The team from D-Pad Studio helped walk me through their demo as I got my wings wet in the world of Owlboy. It’s a classic adventure game where you’re tasked with different quests and objectives, such as rebuilding a collapsed statue, grabbing different characters and flying them to new locations and more.

You have unlimited flight powers and can hover in place. Alone, you’re unarmed and can easily be taken down by the world’s bad guys. But the interesting offensive technique the game uses is the interchangeable gun men you find in the game. The demo level featured a little green workman who didn’t have wings, but would let you carry him about. While flying, you could then direct him to shoot using one of the thumbsticks. This way carrying a man with a gun is the same as carrying your own gun.

I avoided flying pirate ships who’s spotlights try to shoot me out of the air and I maneuvered through caves, looking for both collectibles and the solution to different puzzles. From what the team has created so far, there are unique puzzles, such as squeezing the water out of a rain cloud to fill a basin and float a switch to an accessible location.  Their demo was quite lengthy and I finally had to stop myself from going further. The most amusing moment was when I entered a cave patrolled by gnomes. They’re almost blind, but if you make too much noise from flying they can find you and absolutely pounce you. I was spotted and charged by at least half a dozen of the little buggers and sent packing back to my last checkpoint. A hilarious enemy in a creative world.

The developers said the game is only about a quarter finished, so there is plenty of work to do in the next stretch. For a writer who spent countless hours lost in the games of the Super Nintendo generation, Owlboy has just hit a high mark on my most anticipated list. Keep an eye out for this one.