A couple of months in the past, the Change lastly acquired Pizza Tower, an indie motion platformer that’s gotten a number of reward for a way nicely it channels Nintendo’s long-dormant Wario Land collection. But developer Tour de Pizza wasn’t the one staff impressed by Wario. Summitsphere’s Antonblast is a wild and fantastic motion platformer that feels prefer it may really be the subsequent Wario Land recreation if it got here with a special coat of paint; its mixture of velocity, precision, and sensible degree design makes for a really thrilling expertise that’s solely let down by its points with steady efficiency.
Antonblast stars the titular Dynamite Anton, whose offended, red-skinned look leaves Devil feeling envious and insecure about his standing as “the reddest being of all of them.” So, in a petty act of retaliation, he sends his minions to Anton’s condo to steal what he cherishes most: the Spirits that he saved round his dwelling area. Enraged, Anton grabs his hammer and units out on a quest to reclaim what was stolen and to provide Devil a bit of his thoughts.
Play by means of any given degree right here and the inspiration it takes from Wario Land 4 is straight away clear. Anton (or his roommate, Annie, if you happen to desire) tears by means of ranges like a just about unstoppable drive of nature, smashing packing containers and blowing up enemies as he bounces round along with his hammer and powers by means of obstacles along with his ‘Clutch’ cost skill. There are many aspect paths to discover and collectibles to snap up alongside the way in which, however the final objective is to get to the bomb on the finish of the extent so you can begin “Completely satisfied Hour.” As soon as triggered, a countdown clock begins, and also you solely have a couple of minutes to run all the way in which again by means of the extent with the Spirit you collected. These mad dashes to security are an actual thrill, as you usually are compelled to take an alternate path again to the start and often go away an infinite path of destruction in your wake on the journey again.
Merely beating a degree isn’t sufficient to get the complete expertise, nonetheless, not even if you happen to took your time to wash it for all its collectibles. After beating each, you unlock a time assault and combo chain mode for the extent, and that is the place the distinctive degree design actually comes into focus.
For Time Assault, every degree offers you a decent par time to realize that calls for you grasp degree layouts and perceive the nuances of Anton’s moveset to optimise your makes an attempt. Combo Chain works a lot the identical, however right here you’re tasked with sustaining an unbroken combo by strategically smashing packing containers and blowing up enemies, all with none well being pickups that can assist you out. We loved what these two modes delivered to the desk, as they drive you to interact with every degree another way every time and add higher problem and replayability to an already nice platformer.
Even if you happen to simply persist with the minimal content material to clear the bottom story, Antonblast shows a outstanding quantity of selection throughout its comparatively transient run. It ought to solely take you about 10 hours to clear (perhaps double that if you happen to do every part), but it surely makes probably the most of that point by consistently introducing new concepts and degree ideas alongside the way in which.
One degree has a power-up that basically turns you into Taz the Tasmanian Satan, totally obliterating every part in your path as you flip right into a chaotic whirlwind. One other stage introduces a blazing-fast animal buddy shark that Anton can journey on land or sea, giving new traversal choices as he hangs on for expensive life. That is the type of recreation that retains issues transferring, and its dedication to introducing new concepts and constructing ranges round them retains it feeling consistently contemporary.
As for its visible presentation, Antonblast is clearly impressed by the likes of previous Newgrounds-style Flash animations and ‘90s Nickelodeon reveals. There’s a twisted and considerably dreamlike high quality to the colorful worlds you terrorise in your journey, and all of the characters and animations have a really Looney Tunes-esque vibe with their exaggerated actions. At nearly any second on-screen, there’s one thing sure to be exploding, screaming, or collapsing, and with this underscored by the vibration function of the Pleasure-Con it results in a really energetic visible expertise. However it’s the eye to little particulars that basically sells the artwork model, such because the lengthy path of ‘A’s that follows a terrified enemy you simply despatched careening right into a brick wall.
The audio retains up with the insanity of the motion with a pop and jazz-infused soundtrack that maintains a excessive vitality degree all through. And we particularly respect the frequent cartoonish sound results to punctuate Anton’s harmful actions—issues just like the crashing aircraft sound used when Anton does a physique slam from a excessive bounce assist to maintain the goofy ambiance entrance and centre.
One draw back is that the efficiency almost can’t sustain with the fixed motion. There are many moments the place the display screen is positively soaked in explosions, poker chips, and screaming enemies, which results in a noticeable drop within the body price. These drops don’t have a large direct impact in your skill to manage Anton, however they nonetheless definitely cheapen the expertise sufficient to be disappointing. We’ve seen stories of crashing points and a few softlock bugs encountered by different gamers over the launch interval, too. We’ve been assured by the builders {that a} efficiency enchancment patch focusing on these points has already been submitted to Nintendo, however simply be warned that the present model out there at launch is moderately tough across the edges—it’s possible you’ll need to look ahead to the fixes.
Conclusion
Antonblast is a superb tribute to Nintendo’s Wario Land collection with its madcap motion and give attention to gameplay selection. The cartoonish visuals, excessive replayability, and total spectacle of the expertise make this one nicely value a suggestion, although we’d mood this by saying that it actually wants some work on its Change efficiency. Whether or not on Change or elsewhere, we’d recommend you choose this one up if you happen to’re in any respect a fan of Nintendo’s different Italian mascot and are in search of a well-made and fast-paced new 2D platformer—Antonblast has obtained it the place it counts and is well-deserving of a spot in your library.
