JAKE CURNOW PRESENTS
Guacamelee!
Super Turbo Championship Edition
Playstation 4 Version
As a youngster, I was always a fan of the greatest professional wrestling champions and I found the high flying style of a Luchador to be equally exciting. With Guacamelee being an action packed platformer starring a Luchador wrestler, I can conclusively say the game was far from a letdown.
Guacamelee starts you out as a humble agave farmer, named Juan, in his home town without any super hero powers such as flying or super human strength (those come later). Interestingly enough, walking through the games town nostalgically reminded me of the age old days of Zelda 2 for the Nintendo. You’re able to walk about the town in two dimensions, while talking with different people, some of which have optional side missions for you to complete. But just when you start to notice that Juan’s mean swing is a little too lethargic for the star of a beat em’ up platforming title, the action quickly picks up when El Presidente’s daughter is kidnapped by a gang of crooks lead by Carlos Calaca: the games main villain.
As you would expect from a true hero, Juan immediately makes an attempt at rescuing El Presidente’s daughter but is quickly killed in the process sending him to the games parallel dimension: the land of the dead. Here he is immediately met by a mysterious Luchador who gives Juan a magical Luchador mask, transforming him into a far more powerful version of himself, as well as giving Juan the ability to return back to the world of the living and continue his quest.
Although Guacamelee has some interesting characters, such as a flame headed drunken gunslinger, and a gladiator looking titan named Jaguar Javier, the games focus is more on its gameplay than its story. The action starts out with Juan only having access to basic moves, such as the ability to jump, perform a multi-hit combo, and perform a throw. Most enemies can only be thrown after being stunned by a few punches punches, in which case you’re able to control the direction you wish to throw the enemy.
The games core inspiration comes from traditional Mexican culture and folklore, but as player’s progress, they may notice that elements of highly successful platforming and adventure games like Zelda, Metroid and Super Mario also inspired the game. The influence these legendary games had on Guacamelee seems to be a direct reference, such as in the first dungeon of the game where Juan’s first boss fight mimics the original Super Mario Brothers battle between Mario and Bowser, only to be told after the encounter that the “Princess is in another castle”. Other references would be the collection of heart pieces, and breakable statues designed to award your character with an all new power up, that look identical in nature to those found in the original Metroid title for Nintendo.
Speaking of power ups, however, Guacamelee has plenty of those. Juan’s abilities may come across as lackluster at first, but as you pummel and bash your way through each terrain you’re awarded with coins and an occasional treasure chest filled with items like a heart piece. The coins you acquire can then be spent at selected locations on a wide range of upgrades for your character. In addition to optional upgrades that can be purchased through these in game shops, Juan also acquires a wide range of story progression upgrades. Many of these upgrades are given to you after finding (and breaking) “Choozo statues” belonging to a being who has the ability to shape shift between a man and a goat. Upon breaking each of these statues, however, your man/goat master will then (angrily) award you with a new ability of which can then be used in combat, or to access to a brand new area of the game. Many long time 2D platforming game favorites have returned for another round such as the ground pound and double jump. But Juan also unlocks more unique abilities such as flying, an uppercut and the option of using a timed power up mode called “INTENSO”, which temporarily gives Juan more power in the heat of combat.
A couple of Guacamelee’s more interesting power ups happen to be similar in nature to the Super Nintendo classic, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. In an event that somewhat parallel’s Link’s unfortunate change into a defenseless rabbit in Zelda, Juan finds himself having fallen for the trap of a sorceress and in the role of a chicken. Thankfully enough, Juan is very quickly taught how to shape-shift between his human and chicken form at the tap of the L1 button. Naturally speaking, the chicken is far smaller than Juan, meaning you will now be able to access tighter areas in the game.
Perhaps another feature inspired by Link to the Past is the ability for Juan to change from one dimension to another. In Guacamelee, there are two dimensions that you have access to: the world of the living, and the land of the dead. At certain KEY points in the game, the hero of our story may find himself basically locked into one dimension or the other. But as the story progresses, Juan unlocks the ability to change dimensions with the single click of the R2 button. Probably one of the last things gamers may expect is this feature being required to get through certain platforming areas, or even to defeat certain enemies. For example: You might find yourself in the middle of a battle taking on ten enemies at once. Eight of them may be visually represented as they usually are, but two of them might look like dark, shadow like figures. These shadow like enemies are simply in the second of the games two dimensions, and in a battle with multiple opponents (with enemies being in each dimension), you will need to dimensionally swap back and forth during the fight.
A similar situation holds true when accessing certain areas of the game or completing certain platforming sections. There are certainly areas in the game that you will have no way of accessing until you’ve obtained the required power up. However, there are also certain sections that may have various ledges and walls of which only appear in one dimension or the other. This makes for some VERY interesting, and challenging, platforming experiences sometimes requiring the player to swap dimensions back and forth in the middle of their jumping from one platform (or wall) to the next.
The games visuals and character design come across as being colorful and well thought out. But some of the music comes across as a little too fast paced and I very often found myself gaining more enjoyment from the game by simply turning off my sound. That’s not to say the musical score is horrible, because in certain areas it’s fairly solid. But in the areas where it’s not so good, it can quickly become nerve racking.
In addition to the games campaign mode, which can be played solo or in four-player co-op, you can also gain access to an area called “El Infierno”. As is the case with many of today’s downloadable 2D platforming titles, this area basically functions as Guacamelee’s challenge arena, with several challenges to choose from ranging in difficulty and objective. Also worth mentioning is the ability for players to unlock and then play through the campaigns Hard mode, which is only accessible after completing the game at least once.
Guacamelee Super Turbo Championship Edition has interesting characters, challenging platforming sequences, and a solid combat system. Some of the in game music can come across as a nuisance at times, yet other areas have solid composition. With a game relying heavily on melee combat and platforming, it certainly didn’t do a bad job with the latter. But the combat system, although admittedly with a fair amount of depth, really comes across as having some pretty unrewarding action sequences. But even though some of these sequences can be more frustrating than fun, the overall game is more than worth checking out.
Overall Rating
7.1/10