If there is one phrase to describe Kero Blaster its a common game done uncommonly well. The game is far more similar to Mega Man then Contra in it's speed and pacing with a larger focus on precise platforming and choosing what weapon to use for what sitution. While the weapons here correspond to common gaming archetypes (rapid, spread, lob, and flame) unlike Contra each weapon manages to find different uses based on the scenario at hand. Unlike many modern games which feature atleast an infinite lives mode Kero Blaster uses the life system of classic megaman. You get infinite continues but a game over sends you back to the start of the stage. Yet, there are a few modern twists like allowing you to keep all the money you collected at the time of death and spend it immediately on life upgrades or the fact that most minibosses and set pieces remain dead or deactivated even on a game over. The level design gradually introduces mechanics but doesn't waste it's time trying to belabor the point. The hard mode doesn't simply alter stats but instead offers new level designs, new enemy placements, new bosses, a new story, and a completely different final level. Even the new game plus mode hides hidden optional levels which contain even more secretes.
Kero Blaster's graphics are cute and the music is soothing creating a very comfy experience, but unlike other modern indie games which revel in the excesses of modern kirby - forcing cuteness with overly easy gameplay, sickening sweet pastel graphics, and a shallow obsession with friendship- Kero Blaster maintains a relatively deadpan tone. The game is sometimes funny, is sometimes cute, and sometimes even a little creepy (but never to the absurd degrees as some modern games get in trying to replicate Earthbound's ending). The difficulty is never too hard but also never mind-numbingly easy, and the story is surprisingly personal without ever losing site of the fact that its a game about a cartoon frog who works for a purple cat. Kero Blaster is proof that even the most banal game can become extraordinary when pared with good design sense and a extreme amount of soul.
Kero Blaster's graphics are cute and the music is soothing creating a very comfy experience, but unlike other modern indie games which revel in the excesses of modern kirby - forcing cuteness with overly easy gameplay, sickening sweet pastel graphics, and a shallow obsession with friendship- Kero Blaster maintains a relatively deadpan tone. The game is sometimes funny, is sometimes cute, and sometimes even a little creepy (but never to the absurd degrees as some modern games get in trying to replicate Earthbound's ending). The difficulty is never too hard but also never mind-numbingly easy, and the story is surprisingly personal without ever losing site of the fact that its a game about a cartoon frog who works for a purple cat. Kero Blaster is proof that even the most banal game can become extraordinary when pared with good design sense and a extreme amount of soul.