Ok game. They talk up the pogo mechanic too much, even to the point of the game opening to the devs TELLING us "don't worry, it's super fun", and honestly that's the mechanic that brings this whole game down. I'm not even trying to play competitive, I am trying to just have fun, but the Pogo hops are just not fluid. It feels clunky and the flow of movement is constantly interrupted. If the characters were able to move left/right while hitting the ground, and you were able to act out of the bounce quicker, I think it would feel a lot better. Or at least decent enough to understand why they based a game around the mechanic.
As it stands, it feels like a missed opportunity. A bunch of great IP's which would have been super cool in a smash styled game, but put in a game trying to hard to set itself apart from that genre by using a very strange gimmick.
The cast of characters has some absolutely incredible picks (Viridian, Commander Video, Yolk, Orca, Downwell dude), but also some very lackluster additions that feel out of place among huge indies like Bit Trip. and Shovel Knight. Also some weird omissions from the indie greats (Meat Boy/Isaac?).
The visual style is nice. The stages are wonderful, and are based heavily around the games they're on (even to the extent of changing the "3, 2, 1, GO!" timer at the start). It can come off as a bit all over the place though. Specifically in the main Colosseum/arena. I'm assuming the characters there are kickstarter backers or something, but they all look so ugly and out of place.
It's serviceable. Fun to play as those characters I love, but it just makes me wish they were in an actual smash-type. I'm not sure why anyone would pick this game up over any other smash-like out there right now, besides the roster. Even casuals! Like I said, the gameplay is clunky at best and incredibly frustrating at worst.
As it stands, it feels like a missed opportunity. A bunch of great IP's which would have been super cool in a smash styled game, but put in a game trying to hard to set itself apart from that genre by using a very strange gimmick.
The cast of characters has some absolutely incredible picks (Viridian, Commander Video, Yolk, Orca, Downwell dude), but also some very lackluster additions that feel out of place among huge indies like Bit Trip. and Shovel Knight. Also some weird omissions from the indie greats (Meat Boy/Isaac?).
The visual style is nice. The stages are wonderful, and are based heavily around the games they're on (even to the extent of changing the "3, 2, 1, GO!" timer at the start). It can come off as a bit all over the place though. Specifically in the main Colosseum/arena. I'm assuming the characters there are kickstarter backers or something, but they all look so ugly and out of place.
It's serviceable. Fun to play as those characters I love, but it just makes me wish they were in an actual smash-type. I'm not sure why anyone would pick this game up over any other smash-like out there right now, besides the roster. Even casuals! Like I said, the gameplay is clunky at best and incredibly frustrating at worst.