This was a game that randomly popped up in my radar. I heard it was a "character action" game of sorts that released in today's gaming industry. Due to me checking out a traditional beat em ups of any kind as long as there is no soulslike or roguelike or lite elements in it's design, I will happily check it out. As a whole, I really enjoyed this game even it does have your usual combo driven beat em up trappings.
It may have the rankings and style system of games like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta but this is very much the combat system found in the Guacamelee games. It's basically a combination of both those titles. There are differences like how the special attacks can only be done again after getting pickups from enemies upon death and how you get super powerful energy beam attack that you also get by killing enemies. You also get health pick ups when you kill enemies too but it's not so prevelant that it feels like the game showers you with them.
You also get a ranged firearm that shoots lasers out similar to Ebony and Ivory in DMC. With the dodge and the aforementioned special moves having a directional input and a button press like Guacamelee. It however doesn't have Guacamelee's color coded enemies where specific moves can only damage the enemy.
There is also a number of stage hazards like moving sawblades, lasers and disappearing platforms to contend with as well.
So while Super Crush KO borrows from other games, it does have it's own ideas going on.
It is a short game but of course this is a game that is meant to be played over and over again to get higher rankings but with that said, an average playthrough where you get don't get the highest of scores is still going to be a moderate challenge. Everyone's skill levels varies of course but there are no difficulty levels and there is also a limited continue system as well. On top of all this, the enemy waves get more and more intense as well as dealing with the stage hazards makes the game not something you can sleepwalk through.
This is a title where your skill level is average at best might test you especially when you can't die and keep respawning at checkpoints and eventually win. I'm mixed on the lives system because I believe they exist for the devs to hide how short their game is. With that said, the lives system did feel like it put pressure and motivated me to be better in combat so I won't have to restart at the start of a level. There were times where it felt like I wanted to quit and eventually drop the game but the stage to my surprise wrapped up before I could lose another one.
The stages also don't really drag on it for that long so it helps counteract the lives system.
Despite it's short length, Super Crush KO does actively introduce new enemies to shake things up like ones with shields, breath fire, bounce around, fly, shoot slow moving projectiles or bigger enemies that shoot multple in 8 directions. What helps is that these attacks are well telegraphed due to the red lines knowing when to move out of the way. The waves only get bigger and longer as the game goes on so it feels like overcoming a massive obstacle when getting to the end of a level.
My only big issue with the game is that like many combo driver beat em ups especially the DMC and Bayonetta kind is that doing the complex moves and getting higher style rankings just seems like something I have to go out of my way for not in the heat of the moment. Trying to worry about style rankings while trying to survive tough enemy waves and stage hazards is not worth doing. The challenge doesn't make me want to do the more complex tactics, I want to use the easy to dish out moves much faster and then dodge like no tomorrow. If I try to do more complex moves, I might lose more health and get a game over and lose a life.
The bosses are just...okay. Not terrible and they get the job done for being bosses but them relying on hordes for back up diminishes them as a threat since they need goons to help them. It also distracts from the actual fight itself being a challenge since you got to deal with hordes and well as the boss. It doesn't help that all of them are the same design with different colors. They don't take that long to defeat and their attacks aren't too confusing to dodge as well them giving health drops after damaging them so they are tolerable at least.
Overall, in spite of those two big issues, Super Crush KO is a well made and enjoyable beat em up. For a game I randomly heard about and mainly bought because it was a quick game to beat, I had more fun with it than I thought I would've.
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