Hot and Spicy!
Few foods can quell one’s desires like a Taco Bell combo, and like the faux-Mexican cuisine giant is apt to do, Drinkbox Studios have created a delicious new addition to their menu with Guacamelee! for PS3 and Vita.
Guacamelee! is the perfect blend of spice and flavour. The game is a 2D platformer with “metroidvania” qualities – essentially a Cheesy Gordita Crunch with Metroid Prime as the flatbread, Castlevania as the hard taco, and backtracking for secrets using new abilities being the tasty layer of cheese uniting the two.
The game tells the story of Juan, a lowly agave farmer, who is murdered by Carlos Calaca, an evil skeleton that has kidnapped El Presidente’s daughter. Juan is reborn as a luchador and sets out to get revenge and save the love of his life.
While the story doesn’t necessarily tread new ground with tropes or twists, it offers a hilarious Mexican-themed experience of the likes of Grim Fandango with the precision platforming of Rayman: Origins, as well as some real innovation in the genre’s space.
Where Guacamelee! really differs from more traditional platforming titles is most apparent in combat. Juan can punch and kick enemies into a dazed state, and then grapple or throw them into walls, the ground, or other enemies, resulting in extra damage. The game also features an enemy juggling system akin to what is seen in fighting or action games and a surprisingly varied array of combos.
To help “spice” up these combos, all of the abilities Juan receives throughout the game also function as a way to attack (with the exception of the classic double-jump). Uppercuts, for example, not only offer a little extra height for a jump, but also a devastating blow that leads into juggling baddies perfectly. The mixture of mobility and offence is just one of the reasons this game is so delicious.
Much like Drinkbox Studio’s last title, Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack!!!, Guacamelee! features gorgeous visuals. All of the locales and environments have a unique aesthetic and with an ability to switch between the “living world” and the “dead world”, the game’s locations further differentiate themselves from other platformers’.
Guacamelee! features strong co-op play, which showcases another of its innovations. Some of the platforming is quite challenging, and being forced to throw an inexperienced player into it would be a disaster. Thankfully, Guacamelee! allows the second player to float through tough situations in a bubble, similar to what can be seen in New Super Mario Bros games, and focus on the great combat experience.
The co-op function can be played with another controller, or the PS Vita. Guacamelee! is a cross-buy game, and so whether it is purchased on PS3 or Vita, the other version is automatically unlocked. A cloud uploading/downloading option allows player saves to be sent to and from either system, and in my use of it, I was quite impressed. I began my adventure on PS3 and moved it to PS Vita without a hitch. I noticed no discrepancies between the versions and the only limiting factor on the Vita for me was its battery life.
The only real complaint I have regarding Guacamelee! would be its length – I finished the main story in about five hours. It is a weak complaint though, as the game features a ton of upgrades for health and ability bars, and searching these out took my total playtime to above ten hours – and I still haven’t achieved 100% in all the areas.
The last great platforming game I played was Rayman: Origins which, with its steep learning curve and insane amount of content, felt impossible to fully complete. Guacamelee! offers a deep challenge if you want to achieve that fabled 100%, and even if you don’t, some of the platforming still took me a couple attempts. For $15 (or $12 if you are a PS Plus member), you really can’t go wrong with this title. For once, trying to find faults in a game was really tough for me, and for that (as well as its hilarious tone), I have to recommend Guacamelee! to anyone in possession of a PS3 or Vita. Just think, for the price of a Taco Bell big box combo, you can have way more fun and avoid stinking up the living room.