Platformer for a new generation
Berserk Boy is a joy that brings the glorious 16-bit era into the 21st century
Berserk Boy (PEGI TBC) PC HHHHI
IT’S been a rough start for indie title Berserk Boy.
The game has become the latest victim of a rash of recent ratings issues on the Switch.
Rated as E10 in the US, it was initially released on Nintendo’s EU store on March 6, then quickly removed. The reason being that it is to be re-listed for a higher age range in Russia, New Zealand, and Germany.
While there’s currently no date for when the game may reappear, players eager to get their hands on this 2D sidescroller can either grab it on Steam, or visit the Nintendo eshop from another region via a VPN.
If you can do that, you absolutely should.
It’s not hard to see where developer Berserk Boy Games has taken its inspiration for this actionplatformer, which wears its Mega Man homage very much on its sleeve.
From the armour our hero wears to the opening bars of the game’s plot, you would struggle not to see the parallels.
The game takes place in a future world that is under threat from a mad scientist – Dr Genos – who, along with his army of Dark Energy minions, is waging war on the people of Earth.
You play as Kei, who is able to transform into Berserk Boy thanks to a Berserk orb.
As part of The Resistance, Kei leads the fight against the Dark Energy army, which take the form of evil robots.
The weakest part of this game is the plot, which isn’t bad per se, it just dulls in comparison to the vibrant and intense gameplay.
There are five main sectors to play through, and each offers surprisingly long and challenging substages. Combat is frenetic, with you bouncing between your enemies to chain together attacks and combos.
This helps to build up the Berserker meter, that then allows you to unleash powerful and devastating attacks on the bad guys.
At the end of each sub-stage you’ll find one of Dr Genos’ minion bosses waiting for you, and with each one you defeat you gain another Berserk orb.
These act very much like Marvel’s infinity stones in that different orbs bestow different powers on the user.
There are five in total and each gives Kei’s energy suit differing abilities.
You can flip between those powers on the fly, helping you to run faster, jump higher and punch harder (among other skills) when you need to most.
They also allow you to do some very cool things like drill into the ground, cling to walls and blow up the environment to expose new ledges and openings.
New doors and openings mean that when you play through a level a second time, you can access new areas, picking up collectibles you missed the first time around, and even rescuing fellow Resistance fighters. Graphically, Berserk Boy is beautiful. The bright colours burst from the screen, while the chiptune soundtrack takes you right back to your younger years and somehow never grates, even when you think it should.
While the plot is nothing to write home about, the cheeky, chirpy characters you encounter really do grow on you.
Berserk Boy is an absolute love letter to classic platformers.
It excels in dragging the glorious 16-bit era into the 21st century, introducing a whole new generation of gamers to the format. And while it has a few rough edges, they don’t take the shine off a game that’s an unbridled joy to play.
Combat is frenetic, with you bouncing between your enemies to chain together attacks and combos.
Buy it: £15.99 on PC from store. steampowered.com/