Unruly Heroes (multi-platform): Almost a great platformer

I don't exactly recall what it was that inspired me to get this game, it was probably a youtube video that was featuring the "best new platformers of 2019" or something along those lines. The graphics looked crisp, the gameplay seemed easy enough and it almost appeared to have a Rayman sort of humor about it as well.

I'm not saying that this game is a flop, because it isn't. However, it just isn't very good either.

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In Unruly Heroes you control 4 cartoonish characters as they progress towards a goal of some sort, I honestly don't remember what it was but does it really matter? You were always going to be going to the right or up and to the right just like every other platformer.

Each of the 4 characters have different abilities... kind of. 2 of them have a double jump and 2 of them glide. Their attack animations appear different, but they aren't really very different at all and that is part of the problem.

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No matter which of them you are controlling, you will find yourself mashing square, X, or whatever the buttons on the Nintendo Switch are called for your basic attack.... a lot. The alternate attack or "power attack" for the most part takes too long to engage and therefore isn't really worth using.

If facing more than a few foes at once it quickly became a situation of what we called in high school, "mad button mashing." There isn't any real strategy to the fights, you "smack smack smack" dodge, then "smack smack smack" again, over and over and over again.

Compare this to other platform titles such as Mark of the Ninja where the combat had some real strategy to it while also not being super technical either.

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Some of the puzzles were fun and this is a big part of the game. I definitely enjoyed the puzzles more than the combat, which i found monotonous and tactless. There are certain sections, such as the one above that can only be completed by the special qualities of only one of your 4 characters and these are clearly marked so the aspect of secret discovery isn't really in the game ither. Don't worry, you are able to swap to any other character at any given time so it won't be a question of needing to start the level over if you are using the wrong toon.

As it turns out some of the designers are ex-Ubisoft staff, so if you are noticing a very similar art style to Rayman the way that I do, there is a very good reason for that. If a character dies, you can revive them by smacking the "bubble" that represents them, and this is exactly the same as in Rayman.

_{from the official Playstation channel}

Multiplayer is available, which might make the game more fun, but in a bizarre decision, this is only available for local play. Like I'm gonna have 3 friends nerdy enough to want to play a many hour long platformer in my living room. This was a big deal-breaker for me and I can't understand the reason why anyone would not include online multi-player if you are going to bother having multiplayer at all.

You can collect coins in order to purchase additional skins throughout the levels, but since there is no online coop or even multi-machine coop, what's the point of skins? I found myself not bothering with the coins at all, certainly not the out of reach ones.

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_{I'm not going to figure out how to get up there so i can buy a new color shirt that no one is ever going to see}

Overall, this game looks wonderful, the music is great and the controls are simple enough for anyone to immediately be able to jump on in. However, the game just isn't quite polished. Mostly it just feels like you are playing Rayman but with additional (and I would say unnecessary) combat elements built in. There is also no metroidvania aspects to the game so for most people there is very little incentive to ever replay any of the levels.

I did not complete the game and have no intention of doing so. It's just missing something and I can't even say specifically what that might be.

My overall rating! 5 / 10