2D. Side scrolling. Shooter. Wall to wall action. All traits of games from the 16-bit era. All traits of games that have all but died in the modern age. Did I forget to mention the art style is around the later 16-bit and early 32-bit era? A sweet spot if you ask me. A time when super detailed work was being created and for some reason (polygons) was abandoned for the most part. Badass Hero is the title in question and it is coming to the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Steam.
Badass Hero is just that, a throwback to a simpler time with a control scheme that many PC gamers probably remember. If you ever played a PC game called Abuse then you have an idea of the precise control scheme that you will encounter in Badass Hero.
The game world is a roguelike, if you don’t know about that genre then I must ask if you are a true gamer. Anyhow, roguelike is a term coined after a classic game called Rogue was released. To be considered a roguelike, a game must have random levels that change each time you play. Prima Strategy Guides editors probably despise this genre because they cannot simply print maps of levels. Badass Hero is that – random levels that challenge you to complete them without losing your butt.
The world of Badass Hero is based on comic books which gives the developers plenty of room to run wild with the visuals and challenges. The bosses shown so far are quite different to each other – like playing one of the 16-bit Contra games.
Your task is to kill everything in your way and collect the ink (comics, ink, get it?) to upgrade your weapons and character. Oh yeah, there are going to be multiple playthroughs required of this one to truly appreciate it all.
If we want more like this, we must support those that create them. Based on what I have seen of Badass Hero so far, I can honestly say, things blow up good.
Badass Hero by Awesome Games Studio
Platform: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Steam
Genre: Roguelike, 2D action
Available now on Steam Early Access, Soon on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch
