Mastering the true art of parody is what separates quality content from half-baked nonsense. There’s a significant reason why “Weird Al” Yankovic holds such a prestigious place in the halls of comedy and pastiche songs, but that one guy who sang “I Want It That Way” filled with homophobic innuendos was forgotten the second Limewire shut down. You can’t just imitate pitch and sound: you need to have soul and reason to back it up. It’s comparing Airplane! to Epic Movie or In Living Color to Incredible Crew. And, through sheer determination and commitment to the bit, Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore isn’t just wildly funny: it’s also a fantastic game.

Coming from the mind of Seth Fulkerson, under the moniker Seedy Eye Software, Arzette is the brilliant sidescrolling adventure title that can’t help but be off the walls from the very beginning. A decade ago, the evil demon lord Daimur was defeated by an unlikely group of allies and sealed away in five crystal shards. The heroes all then celebrated and proceeded to go to seed, except for Arzette, who wanted to be taken seriously and continued to train. Now, ten years later, Daimur’s flunky, the evil duke Nodelki, reassembles the jewels, freeing his master and promptly losing his soul in exchange. Faramore, having grown complacent, is powerless to prevent the invasion, but Arzette is raring to go, and God knows no one else is ready, so it’s up to the Princess to save everyone. Again.

G’AH, IT’S TOO EARLY FOR THAT FACE SO CLOSE.

If you aren’t in on the joke of Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, please quickly go read a bit about the Phillips CD-i and the twin titles Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. All caught up? Okay, Arzette is a parody of those games. Look at the way the animation works for the cutscenes and the over-the-top, often upsetting ways that NPCs gesticulate as they talk to you. This is what happens when you have the technology but refuse to figure out how to use it properly. The original CD-i titles were not only bad, they were abominations that received an almost cult level of disparage as players were confounded not only how to play these games (famously bad controls), but also how anyone could think a game would look good with monstrous Paint figures talking to you every few minutes.

This is only further cemented when you realize that Seedy Eye Software was able to get Jeffrey Rath and Bonnie Jean Wilbur, who voiced Link and Zelda in the original CD-i titles, to sign on as the narrator and tutorial voice (plus Skelvis, one of the best throwaway characters). It’s truly remarkable to be able to recognize something from your career over thirty years ago and be able to both laugh about it and marvel that it still stands as inspiration for others. Not only do Rath and Wilbur deliver INCREDIBLE performances, but they give the green light to other actors to go WHOLE HOG on their deliveries. Angel Ray, the voice of Arzette, has such an amazingly sincere delivery that plays so well off the bonkers tone of everyone else in the kingdom.

I mean…it’s drugs, right? It’s gotta be drugs.

Let’s be clear: Arzette is a title where experiencing and hearing all the interactions are key to completely enjoying the game. The animations are purposely offputting and, at times, grotesque. The gesticulations and mad closeups of fairies, wolfmen, witches and just everyday denizens of Faramore is a sight to behold, and it’s utterly enjoyable knowing that it’s done with purpose and flair. In comparison to the misguided attempts of the 1993 Zelda games, Arzette leans into the janky angles and rough edges without going too far. The homage is apparent and obvious, but it also does it with a sincerity that telegraphs a message of love instead of mockery. When you get wild swirls of color or a character’s flailing limbs or tongue, it’s a moment to showcase silliness and artistic design without taking it too far.

Naturally, if this was just a clipshow of CD-i era inspired cutscenes, Seedy Eye Software could have just put a bunch of vignettes on YouTube and called it a day. Thankfully, Arzette also delivers in what can only be described as a metrovania platformer, divided into delightfully bite sized pieces. The kingdom of Faramore is a multitude of ecosystems, from dank swamps and creepy crypts to burning volcanoes and surprisingly relaxing beaches. Arzette much charge into each one, either to look for a beacon to light (to further weaken Daimur and his minions) or to directly challenge one of the mini bosses who possesses a shard of the original crystal. Along the way, she’ll run into walls, obstacles and other inconveniences she can’t quite bridge yet.

Nothing quite like a trip through the graveyard to save the kingdom.

This is where Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore truly shines, as players are treated to an incredibly solid and competent adventure game that has some great difficulty and accessibility rolled into one. Players who play on Easy will find the game almost too easy: the enemies drops of health charges are plentiful and ample, and you won’t want or need for anything unless you are abysmal with hand/eye coordination. I highly recommend starting on normal even if you’ve never played a game like this in your life.

Normal means that you die but respawn immediately at the start of the stage with no penalties, and that’s perfect for Arzette. The controls are wonderfully tight, asking you to jump and land in many small places, deal with enemies attacking from all directions and also needing to incorporate in limited resource items. So, for example, if you continually spelunk in caves, you’ll keep trying to find more lamp oil from mystery grab bags OR by forking over a ton of cash at the merchant back in the main castle. I didn’t go broke picking up more bombs or charges for my mysterious flute, but, once I got the health amulet from a very bawdy woman in the pub, I rushed to pay and recharge it whenever I could. Just because I CAN respawn immediately doesn’t mean I’m pleased I have to all the time.

Clearly a line she rehearsed in the shower for at least ten minutes this morning.

Arzette gives players a spacious amount of freedom in game direction and choice, and that adds to the excitement of the game overall. While each beacon unlocked slowly unveils more areas (and defeating the bosses), you never quite know what to do next, though helpful exclamation points will give you an idea of where at least. There are collectibles peppered throughout the courses, including time-attack stages, hidden coins and additional powerups to make Arzette even more fearsome. The actual required gear is less than you think, so players intent on 100%ing this particular title will find themselves wildly overpowered by the time they finally confront Daimur in the end.

I adored the way the contemporary interface was balanced with some movement choices that felt distinctly throwback, because it added this layer of contextualization that kept me grinning. There are hidden spots that need to be bombed open that my daughter could spot but I couldn’t. There are platforms that don’t look like platforms (a callback to the design flaws of the CD-i Zelda titles) where you’re suddenly surprised at the way forward. And Arzette’s back-dash movement that seems more of a hindrance than an advantage was crucial for discovering hidden nooks and even moving forward with a couple of the castle’s locations.  While I often got killed and cursed the game for cheating (because that’s my vibe), I couldn’t stay mad. None of this was done with laziness or malice: it was all with intent and love (and probably a little malice).

I could not love this performance more if I tried.

Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore could have just been a solid joke title with everyone in on the punchline and then the developers would have laughed all the way to the bank. Instead, we have a banger of a title that is both artistically wonderful and plays like Shantae meets Rygar. It’s not just buffaloing ahead to watch the cutscenes: it’s getting better and finding satisfaction in exploration, response and style. This game is such a left field hit soaring clean over the wall. I love how the sprites look, the sound plays, the game responds and the replay value that comes from some extra modes to uncover. This is a jewel unto itself, and can stand alone as an absurdist take on a meaty genre. Come for the jokes, but stay for the gameplay.

Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is available now on PC, Playstation 4/5, XBox Series One X/S, and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on PC.

A copy of Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore was provided by the publisher.