Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition

Editor's Notes

Xbox One version reviewed. 'Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championshiop Edition' is an expanded version of 'Guacamelee!,' but the review is from a first-time player. Specific additional content is addressed in the Bonus content section of the review.

Introduction

After a successful bout on the PS3 and PS Vita, DrinkBox Studios is taking it's wacked out metroidvania-style brawler onto every platform it can, and with more than a few tweaks. 'Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition' throws in all of the game's DLC, two completely new game areas, one with its own boss, new enemies and a brawler-classic – a power-up mode called Intenso! activated after filling up a bar. DrinkBox has two objectives – convince fans to come back for one more go in the shoes of Juan the Undead Luchador, and find new players on platforms thus far ungraced by the wonders of 'Guacamelee!'

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

For the past year or so 'Guacamelee!' has passed over my attention like a cardinal shrouded under the brush of a tree. Its vibrancy would often show itself as I browsed the internet, but I never took to the time for a full look, to really even figure out if the indie title might be worth a buy. Thankfully, it's come the Xbox One with all the flourish of the first debut Games with Gold Xbox One title. I both regret never giving it my full attention before and, of course, am completely glad I waited long enough to see this complete version. No matter the emotion driving me into the luchador-infested underworld of 'Guacamelee!,' I know I'll never forget the experience. It rattles in the brain.

You're Juan, a luchador wannabe imposed with true luchador abilities after he's revived from death, catapulted into a metroidvania-style adventure to save the girl. Simply put, you're travelling around a large, two-dimensional world, beating the crap out of skeletons and other underworldy foes, traversing platforming challenges and generally widening the possibilities as you unlock new abilities. That should sound familiar enough, and it feels pretty familiar in the opening hour or so. DrinkBox doesn't stray from the formula, but what they do to make 'Guacamelee!' stand out is overload that formula with extreme charm and impeccable execution. There's a tangible, immediate, and immediately satisfying correlated effort to make each and every ability you earn essential to both exploration and the immensely fluid combat system.

Juan isn't just a luchador at heart now, he's a luchador of body as well, his mask and muscles divine in their ability to body slam flying dragons into pieces. Most enemies, after a number of basic hits, can be grappled with a press of the Y button and then thrown in any direction. It's this ability that drives your combos, dodging and jumping around like a Mexican bean, pummeling enemies as fast as they can spawn.

Then, as you unlock abilities, which invariably open up the landscape – higher jumps, explosive headbutts, running up walls, etc. – Juan's arsenal of wrestling maneuvers ratchets up more and more until, eventually, you're stringing combos without blinking an eye. Shielded enemies, which must first be cracked with a specific, color-coded move, show up to properly counter Juan's improvements, keeping the combat fresh, requiring invention and nuance on the part of the player all the way through the campaign.

That's just the punching and kicking of things though. The campaign, which takes you on a literal crash course of Mexican spirituality and culture, is riddled with self-aware humor and references to a veritable conjunction of stand-out indie titles. DrinkBox approaches the writing and storytelling with an almost obsessive desire to admit the heavy influence past games have on 'Guacamelee!,' which only goes further to highlight they ways in which the team improves on those influences. A sage-like goat commonly bemoans your destruction of his favorite statues, those wonderful things that power Juan up, begrudgingly teaching you how to use your next ability. He just can't get his head around why Juan might want to destroy everything in sight.

Importantly, the platforming is creative and tight. Not only is every earned power-up efficiently countered in the following arenas, DrinkBox makes a point not to forget those power ups as the game goes on. The result is a game cranked up in complexity but with a perfectly toned learning curve. Eventually Juan can freely swap between the Land of the Dead and the Land of the Living, which in video game terms means certain platforms and enemies can be interacted with on one side but not the other, asking that you diligently swap with whatever curveball the game throws at you.

The world design, ripe with side-quests and ridiculous characters to give them, comes together in a wonderful burrito-style mishmash. Hub areas of NPC characters also swap between worlds.  For example sorrowful skeleton girl might ask that you recover her doll from the living world, which for a side quest, really pops with the game's Dia De Meurtos style.

Just as in the platforming, everything you've earned up to any point in the game is commonly called upon and intermixed with your every punch, kick and double jump, and there's something truly engaging about that. Of course, it helps that the whole thing pops with the extravagance, violence and excitement of a piñata.