Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition (PC, 2014)
Graphics-8 Sound-8 Control-7.5 Challenge-7/7.5* Story-7
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-7.5/8* Fun-7.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7.5
*100%
+
Aimable throw move with a short timer (feels similar to Bash in Ori 1 except you obviously don't bounce away from the enemy here; can throw an enemy into other enemies to damage both as well as throw enemies into hazards to kill them)
Platform adventure/MV+Beat 'em up-style gameplay (interconnected world, gain movement abilities that let you progress further and reach new parts of previously visited areas, melee combat ability focus, can throw (or punch) enemies upwards and then use a mid-air combo on them - can also shove them straight downwards into the ground again in mid-air, can perform pretty long combos by combining various moves, towns w/ NPCs+shops and side quests, the game locks you into rooms for combat challenges fairly frequently, Dodge move)
Pretty good map system (zoomable, shows ability gates and doors+some topography, can check other sub areas by going to the world map and selecting them)
Pretty unusual setting and theme (mexican, mexican folklore mixed with that style of wrestling (luchadors))
4-player co-op (other players can join in at any point, takes a while to respawn if you die; all chars play the same)
Enemy drop magnet by default
Teleport between found Olmec heads (the game personalizes these by having them be living and the first one is trying to catch a chicken when you find it - seems to have influenced Hollow Knight; there could've been a few more of these though), Some shortcuts
Fast movement
El intenso meter/adrenaline mode (charge it up with combos and then activate it or an AP+speed+health and stamina boost) - kinda OP (especially combined with HP regen) but it's optional and can be switched off quickly
One animal transformation (chicken - can move into tight spaces+moves faster and jumps further but does poor damage and can't use any special attacks nor double jump or wall jump (similar to Mouse Man in WB3), it can also gain a bomb attack that lets you break purple blocks as well as the ability to fly though it has little use unless you intentionally skipped some challenges since you get it very late and some of the most difficult challenges are required to get the pieces for it),
Great art direction and very good animation overall (art deco/mexican/mayan style), some memorable characters (Uay chivo - the horny uncle/goat elder, X'tabay - main bad guy's unhinged henchwoman with an unrequited interested in him, ) and locations (el infierno)
Wall jumping and clinging (very forgiving in that you can just keep on clinging on the spot by pressing towards the wall)
Parallel dimensions mechanic/theme (world of the dead; early on you walk through portals to change the layout of rooms (you switch for a longer period at a certain plot point as well) and after a while you gain the ability to swap quickly on the fly - similar to Soul Reaver and is used for platforming and sometimes combat puzzles)
Mini-bosses
Costumes with gameplay effects (they provide 1-2 buffs/passive abilities and 1 debuff each - the con is usually fairly big so you have to use them at the right time (for example the Pinata costume makes you find more money but also take a lot more damage, Pollo costume provides health regen while slowing down stamina regen - can also upgrade the intenso meter to provide HP regen, etc.); can switch between bought costumes at save points - can also switch between the 2 chars in SP though there are no gameplay differences between them)
Mixes in some chase segments
Makes you feel vulnerable for a while when first being transformed into a chicken
Dynamic music transitions when switching between dimensions (Banjo-Kazooie)
Optional challenge rooms where you focus on one skill at a time
Good platforming puzzles overall (dimension switching also changes fire to water or lava to ground)
Combat segments that test your multitasking with 3+ different aspects to consider (some enemies attacking from the other dimension, colored shields, ranged attacks, various enemy types)
Generally rewarding optional exploration for upgrade items with platforming/combat challenges and some spatial awareness challenges leading up to them (forest skull switch)
Some interesting enemies (color-coded force field using enemies - makes you use the corresponding special move to remove it before you can damage the enemy (or upgrade your intenso meter to bypass them), hovering bomb enemies)
Shows enemies' health bars
Pretty good enemy variety overall - repeats earlier enemies quite a bit though
Some good bosses (last caverna del pollo challenge, jaguar javier, final boss's second phase)
Two endings (need all orbs/blue mask pieces for the good ending)
Some sequence breaking (swap jumping (transform between forms in mid-air) - can be used for infinite jumping if timed right though it's pretty hard to pull off (swapping once can let you reach some platforms without double jumping/uppercutting)
Wall climbing before you get the goat climb ability - let go by pressing away and then double jump
Alternate methods to get to some chests
Damage boost in the desert
One fight skip with a mid-air wall jump)
Difficulty options (normal and hard)
+/-
Mostly linear structure (partially non-linear dungeons, some side quests in the towns, optional sidetracking: can go to caverna del pollo (an enemy gauntlet-style area) early but not that far into it until the mid-game, can go to el infierno before tule tree but not explore it fully until the mid-late game, pico de gallo dungeon is partially non-linear and a couple of optional challenges are accessible with the goat fly/shinespark-like air dash ability)
Frequent save points which also serve as shops
Can't do a regular upwards attack in mid-air - early on you'll gain a stamina-based uppercut instead
Stamina-based special attacks (can be upgraded)
Tutorial text boxes and icons (not subtle but at least they don't pause gameplay)
Some words aren't translated from spanish into english (some make sense without it but others I found myself having to look up) - sometimes entire sentences which is a bit annoying
The game is very forgiving about falling into hazardous liquids (you just teleport back to the previous platform without losing any health) however this is not the case with sawblades and lava which makes you respawn a couple of screens back and reverses your progress up until then
Have to stun enemies to throw them (how many punches it takes can be reduced with an upgrade) - less flexible than some beat 'em ups and fighting games where you can just grab a standing opponent
Invincibility time while grabbing an enemy
Pretty basic side quests (fetch quests, herd the animals, find x NPCs, find and destroy some enemies)
Very obvious references to some other games (Metroid and New SMB: chozo statues and how you take out the first boss respectively, Error from Zelda II, portal gimmick from Super Meat Boy/Portal)
Some layout changes as you progress (the large lizard that breaks through a wall in the first dungeon, stalactite breaking a bridge, etc) - these are scripted events rather than secret alternate paths you can find though
Dialogue-driven narrative rather than environmental
Can't talk to other town animals in chicken form
Silent protagonist
If you jump off a wall you're clinging to and then double jump you lose your momentum if you don't start pressing in the direction you jumped (takes some getting used to since you don't lose it from the regular wall jump if you don't hold a direction)
The rising lava in one segment isn't changed by using the dimension switch (inconsistent)
Silver coins are a bit scarce and you can't convert gold into silver (nothing to buy with gold near the finale)
Get a dodge bonus for dodging at the right time when attacked which piles up if you dodge several attacks in a row - bonus damage? (doesn't seem particularly useful)
The female playable char doesn't get her own story if you play as her
The longest combos you can do aren't really useful during normal gameplay (later enemies either dodge during the combo or are large and don't get stunned so you have to interrupt your combo)
-
Some control/interface issues (annoying how every enemy attack knocks you over, some delay before you can perform a special attack if you do an uppercut/regular upwards punch and if you press too soon then the special attack doesn't even happen after the delay (meanwhile you can follow up a special uppercut with a yellow special immediately and it will register even though there's a delay after that move as well), no distinction between open and locked regular doors on the area maps, icons on the area maps sometimes obscure colored block obstacles or small paths (default or zoomed out view) so you have to memorize where they were or zoom in to avoid backtracking to and from these points, can dodge cancel out of a combo but not jump cancel - no reason?, a few leaps of faith - can't look up/down, can't zoom out the area maps enough, no mini-map, attacks are canceled when landing from jumps, initiating and continuing dialogue are mapped to different keys (kb controls - couldn't use a PS4 controller without joytokey), fairly high default jump height - not an issue?, have to check the area map to see how much gold you have - there's a constand GUI at the top of the screen so why not put it there, shop menu doesn't wrap around, minor delay before you can turn around in mid-air, chosen zoom level isn't saved when exiting the map screen, can't see how many stamina or heart chunks/pieces you're holding while browsing the shop, minor delay before your avatar lets go of a wall after grabbing onto one, can't review the longer combos taught in the gym (there is a move list in the pause menu but it only shows basic moves and you can't repeat lessons), no quest log/journal feature and relevant NPCs aren't marked on the area maps, some area exits in the area maps look like unexplored territory - signs saying "to x area" in these spots would've been useful (the entrances to optional challenge areas like cave of madness could've also been marked with their name since they're not on the world map), some delay before you can turn off intenso mode, pits look like unexplored territory on the map, somewhat unforgiving hit detection when using the yellow special attack/headbutt and you can't redirect it during its animation where you pull your head back)
Can't avoid saving at save points (automatic even if you jump over them) - can lead to backtracking if you went back to check on something and it lead nowhere
Overly obvious and kind of uncreative ability gates overall (colored blocks destroyed by gained attack moves) - you do use the moves like a movement ability as well though (for example the uppercut serves as a double jump)
Can't cling onto the glowing walls in one room in the first dungeon (walls that disappear or appear depending on which dimension you're in - can do it elsewhere) - same with a few other walls such as in the second town
Detailed but mostly uninteractive environments in town buildings
Some dead space (el infierno entrance for example) and annoying temporary dead ends (for example you can find a chicken only path and then as you enter it you need an ability for the chicken to get further and in eastern pico the galle you face a locked door after gaining the ability to get past the lava, it takes pretty long until you can dash forward, in infierno you can get to the third floor with the dash but then need an additional ability to finish all of the challenges)
Some unnecessary points of no return/one-way paths (right after getting the el intenso meter you have to go to the canal, chest in the north of the canal village, last room in the temple of war before the boss, etc.)
Most gained abilities are from previous games (double jump, shinespark-like horizontal air dash, wall jump, stomp, dash/air dash, animal transformation, dash up walls/goat climb)
Some collectathon/padding tendencies (3 pieces for each HP/stamina/intenso meter upgrade and the HP ones are kinda small, the purple blocks - basically chicken-only locked doors that you can't open until the late-game)
Some trial & error (what the skull switch opens up, some shots from off screen (cactuses), some enemies can break your combo, the portal challenge in el infierno - the camera doesn't scroll fast enough, some enemy spawning later on, final boss)
The visuals can get a bit hard to read when fighting many enemies at once
The grapple attacks start off too weak and can't be upgraded that much either, some garish colors
Some platforming puzzles/challenges don't really work in co-op (only one player has to clear a room for the whole team to progress though thankfully)
The timed dodges challenge is too easy (got gold on first try) - challenge 7 otoh is pretty brutal without either 6+ stamina or the double jump
The game's areas are sometimes too divided between platforming segments and beat 'em up segments (makes the world feel more arcade-like/artificial than in various older MVs)
No way to take out more than one cactus at once by throwing their shots back at them (can throw other enemies into them though) - makes some of these encounters kinda slow and basic, invisible roof outside the temple of war (more?)
The beginning of the temple of war and its boss (flame face) are pretty easy
Easy el trio boss
Easy to get the stone mask chest in northern sierra morena
Can only get gold or nothing from one of the hell challenges
No changes to areas when backtracking through them besides the parallel dimensions differences
The vertical segment leading to a blue mask piece is kind of tedious
Sometimes not enough places to use the goat fly ability on to backtrack faster through areas
Unskippable staff roll and boot up logo
Pretty cliché story at its core and the "dead world merging with the living" theme is a bit underdeveloped after the concept is introduced
Notes:
-Super Turbo CE ver. includes all the DLC except for the "frenemies" pack
-Original version is from 2013
-More info on this version's additions: https://steamcommunity.com/app/275390/discussions/0/35221031782903408/
Bugs:
-The game softlocked after getting the dimension swap ability (could just quit and reload to fix it though)
-The "use the environment/throw enemies into the spike wall" challenge can glitch out making the wall not appear or register enemies moving into it (but still registering you walking into it so you can at least restart)
-The enemy wave challenge/challenge 5 can glitch out and give you the gold medal even if you failed
-One colored block in the caverna del pollo area doesn't show on the map
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-7.5/8* Fun-7.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7.5
*100%
+
Aimable throw move with a short timer (feels similar to Bash in Ori 1 except you obviously don't bounce away from the enemy here; can throw an enemy into other enemies to damage both as well as throw enemies into hazards to kill them)
Platform adventure/MV+Beat 'em up-style gameplay (interconnected world, gain movement abilities that let you progress further and reach new parts of previously visited areas, melee combat ability focus, can throw (or punch) enemies upwards and then use a mid-air combo on them - can also shove them straight downwards into the ground again in mid-air, can perform pretty long combos by combining various moves, towns w/ NPCs+shops and side quests, the game locks you into rooms for combat challenges fairly frequently, Dodge move)
Pretty good map system (zoomable, shows ability gates and doors+some topography, can check other sub areas by going to the world map and selecting them)
Pretty unusual setting and theme (mexican, mexican folklore mixed with that style of wrestling (luchadors))
4-player co-op (other players can join in at any point, takes a while to respawn if you die; all chars play the same)
Enemy drop magnet by default
Teleport between found Olmec heads (the game personalizes these by having them be living and the first one is trying to catch a chicken when you find it - seems to have influenced Hollow Knight; there could've been a few more of these though), Some shortcuts
Fast movement
El intenso meter/adrenaline mode (charge it up with combos and then activate it or an AP+speed+health and stamina boost) - kinda OP (especially combined with HP regen) but it's optional and can be switched off quickly
One animal transformation (chicken - can move into tight spaces+moves faster and jumps further but does poor damage and can't use any special attacks nor double jump or wall jump (similar to Mouse Man in WB3), it can also gain a bomb attack that lets you break purple blocks as well as the ability to fly though it has little use unless you intentionally skipped some challenges since you get it very late and some of the most difficult challenges are required to get the pieces for it),
Great art direction and very good animation overall (art deco/mexican/mayan style), some memorable characters (Uay chivo - the horny uncle/goat elder, X'tabay - main bad guy's unhinged henchwoman with an unrequited interested in him, ) and locations (el infierno)
Wall jumping and clinging (very forgiving in that you can just keep on clinging on the spot by pressing towards the wall)
Parallel dimensions mechanic/theme (world of the dead; early on you walk through portals to change the layout of rooms (you switch for a longer period at a certain plot point as well) and after a while you gain the ability to swap quickly on the fly - similar to Soul Reaver and is used for platforming and sometimes combat puzzles)
Mini-bosses
Costumes with gameplay effects (they provide 1-2 buffs/passive abilities and 1 debuff each - the con is usually fairly big so you have to use them at the right time (for example the Pinata costume makes you find more money but also take a lot more damage, Pollo costume provides health regen while slowing down stamina regen - can also upgrade the intenso meter to provide HP regen, etc.); can switch between bought costumes at save points - can also switch between the 2 chars in SP though there are no gameplay differences between them)
Mixes in some chase segments
Makes you feel vulnerable for a while when first being transformed into a chicken
Dynamic music transitions when switching between dimensions (Banjo-Kazooie)
Optional challenge rooms where you focus on one skill at a time
Good platforming puzzles overall (dimension switching also changes fire to water or lava to ground)
Combat segments that test your multitasking with 3+ different aspects to consider (some enemies attacking from the other dimension, colored shields, ranged attacks, various enemy types)
Generally rewarding optional exploration for upgrade items with platforming/combat challenges and some spatial awareness challenges leading up to them (forest skull switch)
Some interesting enemies (color-coded force field using enemies - makes you use the corresponding special move to remove it before you can damage the enemy (or upgrade your intenso meter to bypass them), hovering bomb enemies)
Shows enemies' health bars
Pretty good enemy variety overall - repeats earlier enemies quite a bit though
Some good bosses (last caverna del pollo challenge, jaguar javier, final boss's second phase)
Two endings (need all orbs/blue mask pieces for the good ending)
Some sequence breaking (swap jumping (transform between forms in mid-air) - can be used for infinite jumping if timed right though it's pretty hard to pull off (swapping once can let you reach some platforms without double jumping/uppercutting)
Wall climbing before you get the goat climb ability - let go by pressing away and then double jump
Alternate methods to get to some chests
Damage boost in the desert
One fight skip with a mid-air wall jump)
Difficulty options (normal and hard)
+/-
Mostly linear structure (partially non-linear dungeons, some side quests in the towns, optional sidetracking: can go to caverna del pollo (an enemy gauntlet-style area) early but not that far into it until the mid-game, can go to el infierno before tule tree but not explore it fully until the mid-late game, pico de gallo dungeon is partially non-linear and a couple of optional challenges are accessible with the goat fly/shinespark-like air dash ability)
Frequent save points which also serve as shops
Can't do a regular upwards attack in mid-air - early on you'll gain a stamina-based uppercut instead
Stamina-based special attacks (can be upgraded)
Tutorial text boxes and icons (not subtle but at least they don't pause gameplay)
Some words aren't translated from spanish into english (some make sense without it but others I found myself having to look up) - sometimes entire sentences which is a bit annoying
The game is very forgiving about falling into hazardous liquids (you just teleport back to the previous platform without losing any health) however this is not the case with sawblades and lava which makes you respawn a couple of screens back and reverses your progress up until then
Have to stun enemies to throw them (how many punches it takes can be reduced with an upgrade) - less flexible than some beat 'em ups and fighting games where you can just grab a standing opponent
Invincibility time while grabbing an enemy
Pretty basic side quests (fetch quests, herd the animals, find x NPCs, find and destroy some enemies)
Very obvious references to some other games (Metroid and New SMB: chozo statues and how you take out the first boss respectively, Error from Zelda II, portal gimmick from Super Meat Boy/Portal)
Some layout changes as you progress (the large lizard that breaks through a wall in the first dungeon, stalactite breaking a bridge, etc) - these are scripted events rather than secret alternate paths you can find though
Dialogue-driven narrative rather than environmental
Can't talk to other town animals in chicken form
Silent protagonist
If you jump off a wall you're clinging to and then double jump you lose your momentum if you don't start pressing in the direction you jumped (takes some getting used to since you don't lose it from the regular wall jump if you don't hold a direction)
The rising lava in one segment isn't changed by using the dimension switch (inconsistent)
Silver coins are a bit scarce and you can't convert gold into silver (nothing to buy with gold near the finale)
Get a dodge bonus for dodging at the right time when attacked which piles up if you dodge several attacks in a row - bonus damage? (doesn't seem particularly useful)
The female playable char doesn't get her own story if you play as her
The longest combos you can do aren't really useful during normal gameplay (later enemies either dodge during the combo or are large and don't get stunned so you have to interrupt your combo)
-
Some control/interface issues (annoying how every enemy attack knocks you over, some delay before you can perform a special attack if you do an uppercut/regular upwards punch and if you press too soon then the special attack doesn't even happen after the delay (meanwhile you can follow up a special uppercut with a yellow special immediately and it will register even though there's a delay after that move as well), no distinction between open and locked regular doors on the area maps, icons on the area maps sometimes obscure colored block obstacles or small paths (default or zoomed out view) so you have to memorize where they were or zoom in to avoid backtracking to and from these points, can dodge cancel out of a combo but not jump cancel - no reason?, a few leaps of faith - can't look up/down, can't zoom out the area maps enough, no mini-map, attacks are canceled when landing from jumps, initiating and continuing dialogue are mapped to different keys (kb controls - couldn't use a PS4 controller without joytokey), fairly high default jump height - not an issue?, have to check the area map to see how much gold you have - there's a constand GUI at the top of the screen so why not put it there, shop menu doesn't wrap around, minor delay before you can turn around in mid-air, chosen zoom level isn't saved when exiting the map screen, can't see how many stamina or heart chunks/pieces you're holding while browsing the shop, minor delay before your avatar lets go of a wall after grabbing onto one, can't review the longer combos taught in the gym (there is a move list in the pause menu but it only shows basic moves and you can't repeat lessons), no quest log/journal feature and relevant NPCs aren't marked on the area maps, some area exits in the area maps look like unexplored territory - signs saying "to x area" in these spots would've been useful (the entrances to optional challenge areas like cave of madness could've also been marked with their name since they're not on the world map), some delay before you can turn off intenso mode, pits look like unexplored territory on the map, somewhat unforgiving hit detection when using the yellow special attack/headbutt and you can't redirect it during its animation where you pull your head back)
Can't avoid saving at save points (automatic even if you jump over them) - can lead to backtracking if you went back to check on something and it lead nowhere
Overly obvious and kind of uncreative ability gates overall (colored blocks destroyed by gained attack moves) - you do use the moves like a movement ability as well though (for example the uppercut serves as a double jump)
Can't cling onto the glowing walls in one room in the first dungeon (walls that disappear or appear depending on which dimension you're in - can do it elsewhere) - same with a few other walls such as in the second town
Detailed but mostly uninteractive environments in town buildings
Some dead space (el infierno entrance for example) and annoying temporary dead ends (for example you can find a chicken only path and then as you enter it you need an ability for the chicken to get further and in eastern pico the galle you face a locked door after gaining the ability to get past the lava, it takes pretty long until you can dash forward, in infierno you can get to the third floor with the dash but then need an additional ability to finish all of the challenges)
Some unnecessary points of no return/one-way paths (right after getting the el intenso meter you have to go to the canal, chest in the north of the canal village, last room in the temple of war before the boss, etc.)
Most gained abilities are from previous games (double jump, shinespark-like horizontal air dash, wall jump, stomp, dash/air dash, animal transformation, dash up walls/goat climb)
Some collectathon/padding tendencies (3 pieces for each HP/stamina/intenso meter upgrade and the HP ones are kinda small, the purple blocks - basically chicken-only locked doors that you can't open until the late-game)
Some trial & error (what the skull switch opens up, some shots from off screen (cactuses), some enemies can break your combo, the portal challenge in el infierno - the camera doesn't scroll fast enough, some enemy spawning later on, final boss)
The visuals can get a bit hard to read when fighting many enemies at once
The grapple attacks start off too weak and can't be upgraded that much either, some garish colors
Some platforming puzzles/challenges don't really work in co-op (only one player has to clear a room for the whole team to progress though thankfully)
The timed dodges challenge is too easy (got gold on first try) - challenge 7 otoh is pretty brutal without either 6+ stamina or the double jump
The game's areas are sometimes too divided between platforming segments and beat 'em up segments (makes the world feel more arcade-like/artificial than in various older MVs)
No way to take out more than one cactus at once by throwing their shots back at them (can throw other enemies into them though) - makes some of these encounters kinda slow and basic, invisible roof outside the temple of war (more?)
The beginning of the temple of war and its boss (flame face) are pretty easy
Easy el trio boss
Easy to get the stone mask chest in northern sierra morena
Can only get gold or nothing from one of the hell challenges
No changes to areas when backtracking through them besides the parallel dimensions differences
The vertical segment leading to a blue mask piece is kind of tedious
Sometimes not enough places to use the goat fly ability on to backtrack faster through areas
Unskippable staff roll and boot up logo
Pretty cliché story at its core and the "dead world merging with the living" theme is a bit underdeveloped after the concept is introduced
Notes:
-Super Turbo CE ver. includes all the DLC except for the "frenemies" pack
-Original version is from 2013
-More info on this version's additions: https://steamcommunity.com/app/275390/discussions/0/35221031782903408/
Bugs:
-The game softlocked after getting the dimension swap ability (could just quit and reload to fix it though)
-The "use the environment/throw enemies into the spike wall" challenge can glitch out making the wall not appear or register enemies moving into it (but still registering you walking into it so you can at least restart)
-The enemy wave challenge/challenge 5 can glitch out and give you the gold medal even if you failed
-One colored block in the caverna del pollo area doesn't show on the map