Unruly Heroes

MAGIC DESIGN STUDIOS HAS CRAFTED A COMPETENTLY-EXECUTED PLATFORMER HERE, AND ONE THAT’S FAIRLY GENTLE AND CHARMING

KUNG-FU HUSTLE. From $28.95 | PC, Switch, XO | www.unrulyheroes.com

THE VISUAL RESEMBLANCE is unmistakable. Yes, Unruly Heroes’ painterly graphics style does look a fair bit like Rayman Legends – but there’s perhaps good reason for that. This first game from French indie dev Magic Design Studios was made by a number of Ubisoft vets who’ve previously worked on cult-classic platformer Rayman Legends – and the pedigree, thankfully, doesn’t just extend to visuals. Like the latter, Unruly Heroes is still a somewhat ‘floaty’ style platformer – Super Meat Boy it ain’t – but it’s one that’s far more varied in play than Rayman’s speedrunning-oriented design. Taking inspiration from Chinese fantasy epic ’ The Journey to the West’ (which Aussies of a certain age will most likely have encountered via 80s Japanese TV series Monkey, aka Monkey Magic), Unruly Heroes gives you four characters to play with that you can switch between at any time. Each has different capabilities (with a little overlap) that you’ll need to use to overcome environmental hazards and puzzles, and inbetween you’ll spend roughly equal time button-mashing to beat up enemies and bosses, and yes, there’s even a bit of speedrunning too.

Magic Design Studios has crafted a competently-executed platformer here, and one that’s fairly gentle and charming – but most importantly, a whole lot of fun to play. It’s not particularly deep, mind – collecting the pickups scattered throughout each level doesn’t offer any gameplay benefits, and merely unlocks artwork and character skins. That’s something the developers will hopefully get to expand on in a sequel. Regardless, if you’re a fan of the genre, this one deserves your attention.