Played from a flat 2D perspective, you can flip the world and reduce a perilous jump to an accessible walkway, and align ladders with vines to allow ascension to higher levels and hidden platforms.

Your mission is bestowed by Dot, a floating holographic cube that proves both whimsical guide and companion. You must find 32 pieces of an exploded hexahedron – a journey night and day far beyond the boundaries of Gomez’s home, through perilous dungeons, hidden machinery, interstellar portals and story that includes discovery of ancient secrets behind his very existence.

Fez’s real success is in creating a genuinely sweet narrative arc, adding an endearing warmth to its 8-bit homage. Visually nodding toward the likes of Q-Bert, Castellian and the more recent eye-boggling Echochrome –it’s emotive arc calls to mind journey classics like Zelda and Solstice. The scale of the task in front of the diminutive Gomez is palpable, and eventual success of ‘gold-plating’ a level (collecting all the cubes) proves a genuinely rewarding experience. 

Fez loves playing with your pre-conceptions. A 2D adventure in a 3D world, but also a platform game in the truest sense as well as an unashamed puzzler. Timing the trajectory of running jumps is Nintendo-esque in its delivery, while discovering the history of the ancients with visual puzzles and riddles is the sarcastic stuff of early Tim Schaeffer. Fez is one big pun on perspective; both externally but also internally - riffing on the world’s inhabitants and the players pre-conceptions.

But on the flipside, its puzzle element is very Rubik’s cube in delivery. Play strategically, or randomly flip and twist in the vain hoping for success. It’s puzzle bent is inseparable from the story – and while never enough to dissuade exploration, and will repel those hoping for a more immediate experience. The combination of optimistically melancholic oscillating chiptune, while complimenting the experience, will prove equally nightmarish and twee for some.

But maybe there’s a larger argument that Fez isn’t of the modern age. Led by creator, artist and designer Phil Fish, Polytron have taken half a decade to craft Fez. It’s neither a cynical cash-in on nostalgia nor a self indulgent 8-bit love-in. Fez harks back to a simpler time, distilling the platform puzzle adventure elements that made Mario compelling and timeless and stripping the modern out of modern gaming. And in application, it's a particularly poignant reminder that the best ideas are often the simplest – and in doing so in an entertaining and manner, it’s an uplifting compelling dissertation on gaming as we know it in 2012.

9/10

Fez is available to download now from Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points (£6.40/€9.60/$10)