Super Bernie World (PC) Review

 

Super Bernie World is a Rip-Off version of Super Mario Bros 1. "Rip-Off" is a term, that gets used way too often, but here it really fits. Gameplay and levels are nearly identical to the source of inspiration, which makes it quite difficult to accurately rate Super Bernie World as its own game.

I am a very big Fan of Super Mario Bros 1 and therefore also like the gameplay of Super Bernie World a lot. The game is a classic Platformer with the base elements of such a game, which are the ability to run and to jump. All levels can be completed by the usage of these two elements. There a couple of different enemies placed in the levels (all of them, once again, functioning identical to their counterparts in Super Mario Bros 1) and every third level in a world is a dungeon level with a Boss encounter at the end. There are 4 worlds in total, in Super Bernie World, which is only half the content from the Mario game and (as far as I can tell) there are no secrets levels or shortcuts in Super Bernie World. The levels are all named after different states in the US, but don't visually resemble any of them.

I am not really sure why they shortened the game so much, when they already copied most elements for this entry. The two first worlds are really easy and even closer to the original than the other two, which at least place their obstacles a bit differently, but still remain very faithful to the Super Mario Bros 1 level design. Water and underground levels got completely removed for Super Bernie World. Therefore the game really feels like a watered down version of Super Mario Bros 1.

The Koopa Troopas now have a Mitch McConnell skin, which is quite funny, but other enemy models have no political context, which feels like wasted potential. The Piranha-Flower for example got replaced by a large trashman and the Hammer-Brother by a Tiki Torcher. I don't really see the connection here.

Before every world, there is a short dialogue between Bernie Sanders and a republican politician, which is going to be the boss for that world. In World 1 it is Ted Cruz, in World 2 it is Jim Jordan, for world 3 Mitch McConnell and President Trump in World 4. I like that, but I don't understand why they used the same character model (Trump) for all 4 Bosses. You can understand why Mario back in the day on the NES did it, but for Super Bernie World it just seems lazy.

I generally think that the game wasted the potential of the scenario a bit. They could have definitely changed up the gameplay a bit, to give Super Bernie World its own twist. Right now you will just see it as a Mario Rip-Off without own elements.

The political context is of the game is just supposed to be funny and shouldn't be taken seriously by anybody, regardless of political beliefs. I didn't really see anything offensive in the game, since it is always clear that this game is just supposed to be a joke. On a personal level I didn't like that the game previously (before a patch) asked players to donate for Bernie Sanders, since that seems to cross a line between a videogame as an artform and political advertising. Sanders-Fans however might view this point differently.

The controls with Mouse and Keyboard were pretty awful in my opinion and I was incapable of playing the game that way (Seriously, you use j and l buttons to walk, y/z to sprint and you jump with x. That is covoluted and idiotic). With a gamepad however, the game controlled pretty much identical to Super Mario Bros 1 (once more underlining how similar they are). I also want to once more point out, that the platforming gameplay of Super Mario Bros 1 is amazing (once you got used to the slightly floaty jump controls) and therefore the same can be said about Super Bernie World.  

The visuals of Super Bernie World are very nice 8 Bit graphics, because they are obviously also very similar to Mario's game (I know I am repeating myself, but it really is true). They just replaced some background details with more human looking buildings and instead of a small Mario you play with a small Bernie. Even the UI of the game got practically unchanged to Mario's.

The regular soundeffects are identical to Super Mario Bros 1, but the background music got replaced with original songs, which are surprisingly good. There are only two (one for the dungeon levels and one for the regular ones), but they fit the game really well.

 

Pro:

- Great Mario Gameplay

- Strong soundtrack

- Good humour

- 8 Bit visuals hold up

 

Contra:

- Just a watered down Mario Rip-Off

- Much shorter than the original

- Disappointing character reskins outside of Bernie, Trump, McConnell

 

Result:

Some people may compare Super Bernie World to the international version of Super Mario Bros 2, which blatantly ripped of Dooki Dooki Panic. I would however deem this comparison invalid, since Super Bernie World is a watered down version of its source instead of a full reskin model. Super Bernie World doesn't live up to Mario, but since the foundation of the source material is so great, Super Bernie World remains a rather enjoyable, yet also disappointing experience.  

 

6.5/10

Dungeon Royale (PC) Review

 

Dungeon Royale is an interesting mix of a classic Dungeoncrawler and a Battle Royale Game. The gameplay perspective and Dungeon design immediately reminded me of the classic Legend of Zelda games.

Players have to travel through various room, defeat all enemies and collect as much loot as possible. So far so good, but the twist is that the Dungeon Crawler experience is placed within a Battle Royale match. Other players spawn in the same Dungeon complex and can fight against each other, if they happen to walk to into each other in one of the many rooms of the Dungeons. The match will end when there is only one player left, and he activates a portal in a special room to enter a final Boss Fight. If he slays that Boss too, he will be crowned the winner of the match. Equivalent to the Zones of other Battle Royale games, the playable area of the dungeons shrinks over time and players in rooms outside of the safe area will receive damage till they cease to exist. Not all rooms have exits to all sides, so you can certainly get lost outside of the zone while trying to find your way into it. As far as I can tell the Dungeons and the room placement get randomized each match.

One of the twists of Dungeon Royale is, that defeated players are not gone for good, like in all other BR games. Instead they will respawn as enemies in the rooms of living players. New players will just spawn as weak slime enemies, which can barely move around and won't do much damage. The more players level their account (through playing the game) the more powerful enemy models they will unlock, who attack and move faster (different enemy models are not only cosmetic changes, but alter the gameplay). The second to last player will also incorporate the Boss enemy in the ultimate combat with the final living player. The Boss can also win the match in his own way, if he manages to slay the last player. This idea of playing as one of the enemies after your demise is pretty cool, but I dislike, that the starting enemy models feel so much weaker in comparison to those on higher levels. This is, in my opinion, showing a clear lack of balancing and a big advantage for the most experienced players.

Killing mobs (or other defeated players who take their place) generates Gold coins, which can be used to purchase stat increases (more life or stronger attacks), different weapons or some items, which grant you a bonus effect or an active ability (temporary invisibility or a fire attack for example). There are also some Minibosses in the game, which can't be incorporated by real players, and they have different attack schemes than the Bosses and regular foes.

My biggest problem with Dungeon Royale, aside from balancing, is the controls/movement. Regardless of input method, moving your character around and attacking always feels clunky. It takes around a second after pressing the attack button for the first stroke till it is performed (subsequent attacks perform noticeably faster till the chain breaks). At first I thought it might have been an issue with the server region, but I experienced the attack delay in both EU and NA. Attacking just feels too delayed to be very enjoyable. Movement is also not a strong suit of the game. While your movement is actually pretty quick in this game, I got stuck on objects all the time or slightly missed doors and objects. I never had such issues for example while playing the original Legend of Zelda on NES, which uses a rather similar gameplay style. Playing with a gamepad definitely felt more accurate than with Mouse and Keyboard, but the control issues still remained, just slightly toned down.

The pixel visual style fits the game well and reminds me of some older 8-Bit games. It definitely fits the game and I like it. The soundtrack was also pretty decent, even though it definitely lacks some variety. 

The small and unsteady playerbase can be another hassle. The game requires at least 3 players to start a match, which can be an issue depending on the time of day. There are usually between 0-10 players online, but those get divided into two different server regions (EU+NA), which makes it more difficult to start matches. At the moment you can still get into matches well during prime times, but that may change in the future. It is an issue already nonetheless.

 

Pro:

- Dungeoncrawler meets Battle Royale

- Defeated players can respawn as enemies

- Variety of objects and weapons

- Nice Pixel Visuals

 

Contra:

- Attacks feel delayed

- Movement is clunky (Controller and M/K)

- Severe Disadvantages for new players (Lack of Balance)

- Small playerbase and server region divide

 

Result:

The idea of Dungeon Royale is great, but the execution is sadly only of mixed quality. Combining Dungeoncrawling and Battle Royale into a sort of competitive Dungeoncrawler works well and giving defeated players the chance to get revenge on the other players is very engaging. The Pixel Visuals fit the game well and the different findable/purchasable objects and weapons give a nice incentive to grind Mobs, but the most important part probably remains the gameplay and that is quite flawed in Dungeon Royale. Stiff, delayed attacks and imprecise movement take a lot from the otherwise enjoyable formula of the game. The lack of playerbase and Balancing issues might be the factors, which will ultimately lead to the games demise. Till then however, I do recommend at least checking the game out, if you are interested in competitive Dungeoncrawlers or a different sort of BR experience.

 

5.5/10

Tomb Rumble (PC) Review

 

Tomb Rumble is a 2D Collectathon Platformer with the twist of being a competitive multiplayer game. As the name suggests, the game was heavily inspired by the Tomb Raider games and the Indiana Jones movies.

Tomb Rumble is a MMO, which means that all players enter the chosen level in real time. Players need to walk and jump through the levels, passing the deadly obstacles and collect golden Coins or more valuable treasures in the form of Sapphires. Every Level has a tight timelimit of 45 seconds to reach a rope at the end of the level, which helps the players to escape. Multiple levels are being played in a row and the aim is to be the player with the most loot. Every couple of levels you will return to a HUB area via a helicopter, where you trade your collected coins for cosmetics. After some stages you will also get a special combat level, where players don't have to collect to loot, but fight each other and the surviving players gets the most coins as a reward.

Overall there are hundreds of levels in the game, which provides a high level of variety (you can even create your own levels and share them with other players). There can be lavapits, ancient temple ruins, frozen places or dense jungle environments for example. The only common element are the deathtraps in every level, which ensure that you have to pay attention to the platforming, because one ill timed jump leads to your characters demise in that level. Defeated characters however are not gone for good and respawn as different enemy types, which can still collect coins, push other players into the pits and even finish the level via the rope (Players start as mummies and can unlock a variety of other enemies, like monkeys, werewolves, ghosts and so on). Living players btw can also push their opponents into pits and set up additional deadly traps behind them, which can provide some good entertainment.

The controls of Tomb Rumble are very simple. You can walk with WASD or the arrow keys and the W/Up key perform jumps and the S/Down key lays traps on the ground or pushes players. Despite its simplicity the controls work fine. The pixel art style also fits the game well and looks much better than in some other games.

There are however also a couple of annoying aspects about the game. The tutorial of the game for example explains the basics quite well, but unfortunately you get forced to play it every time you launch the game. There are sometimes popup messages appearing towards the end of a level asking you to rate the map. These however can only be closed with the mouse. Those are unnecessary annoyances.

Tomb Rumble's biggest flaw however is the very small screen size of the game. You can not play the game in fullscreen mode and the game is usually only taking around 40 % of the screen size, which is really small. Smaller objects in the levels are therefore more difficult to spot and when you have many players in a level, it can become very difficult to orientate yourself. They should have definitely handled that better. The playerbase has nowadays (February 2022) been shrinking noticeably in comparison to the release window. You rarely get more than 5-10 players in a level.

Something, that has been getting a lot of praise before the release, was the developers handling of microtransactions. They are not selling you any skins, but you instead have to trade them against the gold coins you collect ingame (so far, so good). Instead, the game is financing itself over purchasable DLC. You can buy yourself a sorcerer and a vampire DLC, which will replace the players enemy model, when he gets defeated. The catch however is, that vampires and sorcerers are more powerful than the other enemy types. They can fly through the levels and the sorcerer can for example shoot lightning bolts on other players. The Devs claim they are not more powerful than the other defeated characters, but I disagree. I believe they unfairly give advantages to defeated players, that invested real money into the game.

 

Pro:

- MMO Platformer

- High variety of levels

- Fast pace of the levels (no boredom/repetition)

- Cool Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones inspired Theme

- Easy Level Editor

- Simple, but functional controls

 

Contra:

- Small screen size

- Game can become disorientating Chaos sometimes

- Paid DLC seem unfair

- Forced Tutorial every start

- Shrinking playerbase

 

Result:

Tomb Rumble is a 2D MMO Collectathon Platformer, which makes the game pretty unique. The game lives up to its Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones theme and I appreciated the large variety of levels and quick pace of gameplay, which helped to keep things fresh. Creating your own levels is also pretty fun. The small screen size on the other hand is unfortunately a big weakness of the game and that sometimes creates an utter chaos, where you don't know what's going and whether you are still alive. The unbalanced DLC also really displeased me and the game might get problems to live up to the MMO tag, if player numbers don't improve. Tomb Rumble is certainly worth a try for 2D Platformer fans, just don't expect the same platforming quality you might see in a Singleplayer adventure.

 

6/10

Push Battle (PC) Short Review

 

"This game is ass" would be the perfect description of Push Battle. In this game you play as an ass person, whose only objective is to push/'smash' 3 other players off a platform as many times as you can within 1 minute. There are no other game modes or other content here. The visuals are minimalistic, the movement speed slow and the gameplay not that exciting. Maybe you can laugh about the game for a minute, but does that really justify the download?

Push Battle is a good evidence, that every absurd nonsense can become a videogame. Every game can be fun with friends, but Push Battle is just weird and in my opinion not a fun game.

 

2/10