Freedom Planet is an exciting, action-packed platformer starring a speedy mascot. Lilac has a multifaceted moveset with multiple ways to get around and hidden techniques to optimize level traversal. Quick kicks, uppercuts, lengthy-but-cancellable cyclones, and divekicks give players more than enough options to kick robots in the face with great efficiency. Freedom Planet's world is well-realized, specific, and beautiful. Its end-of-level bosses are demanding and exciting, dynamic, and fair. Fun, interesting mechanics, enemies, and scenarios present themselves regularly to keep players engaged. One thing that makes Freedom Planet stand out is how it telegraphs its instant-kill attacks. These punishing traps are also well-contextualized within the setting, giving them a verisimilitude unseen in other speedy mascot platformers. And they found a way to do that without forcing the player to stop or slow down! At four hours, Freedom Planet is quite short, but begs to be replayed over and over again. As players improve with the game, they'll shave that time down to two hours, or even 90 minutes, making Freedom Planet a comfortable, pick-up-and-play affair, a satisfying, self-contained story from beginning to end. Just like those genesis games. What were they, again? I think it was Alien Solder? Wild Guns? Rocket Knight? Freedom Planet is quite an inspired game, and one which pushes its genre, taking what made it great, and leaving behind what didn't. I highly recommend it.