Golden Force (Switch) Review
Release Date: January 28, 2021
Publisher/Developer: Storybird Games/No Gravity Games
Platform: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Price: $19.99 (current sale on Switch for $14.99)
Golden Force’s “oldschool” difficulty is definitely worn on it’s sleeve, as I died over and over learning basic commands in the tutorial. Upon loading up Golden Force, one is immediately thrust into a battle with a giant octopus hellbent on sending your ship to the bottom of the sea. I haven’t had this level of frustration in a tutorial since Driver on the PS1. In today’s Dark Souls world, this may be embraced, even lauded, by many. As I continued to play, however, I felt that the combination of challenges players face are tolerable on their own, but extremely difficult when piled on top of each other. Small health pools, cheap hits, long distances between checkpoints, and scarce health pickups make for a difficult slog through the hardest areas.
One or two players take control of one of four different members of the Golden Force, who by and large are literally just in it for the gold. They adventure to different islands, annihilate the violent residents, and hoover up all the gold they can. Despite the four unique looking characters, they all play exactly the same (disappointing as your options range from Pirate Adventurer and Shantae Clone to Cyborg Old Guy and Dragon with Wings that Jumps Just Like the Others). The controls are spot-on and tight though, and the moves do exactly what you expect them to. I particularly appreciated a dedicated button to a dash attack that went behind your opponent, usable as a dodge in particularly sticky situations.
The sidescrolling levels are big and colorful, and chock full of enemies. They come from under the ground, dive out of the sky, you name it. Sometimes this leads to some cheap hits until you memorize their patterns. I also ran into some tough leaps of faith that lead to a lot of pain the first time until you know where to land. Players start out with five hits, and very sparse save points (and even sparser health refills). The lowliest slug walking into you and the most powerful boss slamming you both take off a single hit point, so a perfect run is almost necessary if you are going to have enough power to face one of the gargantuan bosses.
While I appreciate what Golden Force has to offer and see it as a challenging game, I feel some of it’s challenges, add up to a different genre. Whilst a bit more relaxed, it feels like a “bullet hell” mentality. Enemies pop in regular patterns, big gaps require precision jumping, and one inch off leads to losing one of your scarce hit points. Golden Force is best enjoyed by gamers who look for that “perfect run.”
Multiplayer leaves something to be desired. A full Joy-Con set is required for each player, despite the controls not using all the buttons and easily fitting on a single for that quick Nintendo Switch “split and share” seen in all the commercials. Instead of wrangling the camera to cover two people or limit distance, it plays like old school Sonic the Hedgehog 2. No matter who is the most active or leading, it pins itself to Player 1, with Player 2 getting a mini-circle of environment and a ten-second countdown before being teleported back to Player 1. As I reviewed this title solo but wanted to see how multiplayer worked, I noted a couple exploits. Walk away from Player 2 long enough and they “bubble” like New Super Mario Bros. They then float behind you until you need to pop them, so you can use that and swap to the other, getting a few extra hits of health in the process. Also, I noted that Player 2 doesn’t get aimed at by turrets and such, and if they walk ahead, they have a ten-second window where the enemies are a lot more docile, so in a particularly tough section they can dash ahead and get a few hits in on enemies before Player 1 has to slog through. Overall, multiplayer ends up feeling like an afterthought, as even the gold and combo meter is shared between both players.
Golden Force does have a lot going for it despite my complaints. The battle system, while repetitive, is fun. Environments are colorful and large, with plenty of secrets to find, though the shop could stand to have cheaper prices for the upgrades. For $20 it’s an enjoyable enough time to slaughter wave after wave of enemies with a buddy, challenge yourself for perfection, or watch pros run on a stream. Golden Force by and large is very polished for what it is as a single player experience, but the combination of challenges may lead to frustration for a casual player.
Pros:
-Beautiful animation and lush 2D sprite based platforming worlds
-Big colorful bosses
-High difficulty curve for those seeking a challenges
-Combat is fun
Cons:
-Multiplayer seems tacked on at best
-No real purpose in choosing characters outside of skins
-Cheap hits and long distance between checkpoints means a lot of replayed sections
Special thanks to Storybird Games/No Gravity Games for offering a code for review.