Grasshopper Manufacture have a track record for weird and wonderful games. Look at the likes of No More Heroes, Shadows Of The Damned and Lollipop Chainsaw. All strange, but comfortable in their humour and design. Is Black Knight Sword more of the same, in that regard? Not really, it’s a little safer, and a little more focused on gameplay, even though a strong style is still present.
Quirky. Not mad, like other Suda works, but quirky, nonetheless. Set as a puppet theater of sorts, the black knight is merely an old school platformer in the vein of old Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden games. In fact, the titular character’s method of simply stabbing in eight directions draws parallels to the Belmonts’ whips, or Strider’s sword slash. Where a sweeping sword swing (which you do eventually gain, as well as what I can only describe as Guile’s Flash Kick) would’ve made more sense for fluidity and style, instead you jab, affording you less forgiveness on your attacks, and that is fitting of the kind of atmosphere that is being conjured. You also have the Black Hellebore, one of the two warring sisters that make up the small threads of narrative, which you can use as a projectile to attack and activate switches, or to execute a limited amount of magic attacks akin to Gillius’ lightning in Golden Axe: a few strips of hitbox, and some much-needed invulnerability.
The story, well, there isn’t much of one. But was there ever, back then? Not every game requires an in-depth literary masterpiece. This is one of those games. Just accept the fact you’re a guy possessed by a princess on a quest to vanquish her sister. Sure, you’d be forgiven for expecting something based on a theater to deliver a sturdy narrative, but instead this focuses on the moving parts of Kamishibai, the old Japanese paper theater style, instead of the weaving of a grand tale for the ages. Again, this adds to that late eighties, early nineties outlook that is prevalent throughout.
This is certainly not a game that feels a need to conform to the new school of lives, instead offering you three with a checkpointing system, then sending you back to the start of what become fairly long stages if you die. This is not the kind of challenge designers are urged to go for these days, for good reasons, but this feels closer to a game designed around that purpose, so it does not feel out of place. It’s still infuriating on more than one occasion, though.
It does contain one concession, however, and that is its easy mode. While not to say that the easy mode is too easy, it makes the game overall a lot less of a grind towards the goal, so if you just want to experience the world, see its odd creatures, navigate some jumping puzzles and be on your merry way, this is the way to go. It mixes the gameplay up sometimes, with a well-executed horizontal shooting section, which feels like a PC Engine shooter of old, complete with a bullet-spewing boss battle and a chicken’s head for a hitbox.
Presentationally, it strikes a few odd chords. The first is that the action is always framed by stage curtains. This is simply to affirm the theme, but may be distracting for some people. To me, it feels like a cheeky way to keep in place the letterboxes of old, as if to some childish reluctance to let go of the 4:3 format. It’s possible that some will be irked by them, though, and would instead much prefer to see the edges of their playfield. Secondly is its cardboard style. Every sprite is reminiscent of a scrapbook collage cut from various pieces of paper, calling back to stage props. It is also pretty shambolic (on purpose, though) and not the prettiest of things. Suda doesn’t often make the prettiest of things, though. While the game purports to move left and right, you are in fact staying still, on a stage, with backdrops being wheeled in and out. It also benefits from a booming and dramatic narrator, offering some thespian atmosphere. However, in a sense, the game actually isn’t strange enough for what you may expect from Grasshopper.
It feels comfortable in its archaic nature, for sure, but it can also be to its detriment. It expects you to learn by dying, a feature used in the NES era to artificially lengthen the playtime of what was really a short game. You only have to look at how long it takes speedrunners (even not very good ones) to complete most of these old NES games to realise that. Back then, we could accept that, as there was limited memory and resources. Now, there is almost unlimited scope in resources, yet still they cling feverishly to the harsh world of three lives and you’re out. In even indulges itself in the very eight-bit concept of a boss rush, albeit elongated and placed in Hell’s toybox.
A special mention is reserved for the final boss, for pure creativity alone. You may be able to see it coming, but when it does it is executed brilliantly, and acts as a great (and challenging) final chapter.
Essentially, you liking this game comes down to two things; Do you like how old-school sidescrollers went about their business, and can you cope with the occasional sloppiness of controls? If you say yes to both of these, it’s worth a try. Otherwise, try it first, but be aware it finds it feet as it progresses, so you may have to look out for what may come, instead of evaluating it based on the limited toolset you start with. Overall though, it is missing that certain something. It does not quite reach the heights of what it is so desperately trying to mimic, and that really is a shame.