Developed by Drinkbox Studios, Guacamelee! was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita last April and later on PC in August. Now that the next generation of consoles have arrived, Guacamelee is receiving the next-gen remake and release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U and finally, the Xbox 360. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition (from now to be referred to as STCE), improves on the niggles and unbalanced parts of the vanilla game, adds co-operative play, includes all previously released downloadable content (with seamless integration) and lots more content for the main campaign.
Based around the Mexican folklore of Día de Muertos, which gives the game such charm and beautiful illustrations, you play as a farmer turned luchador named Juan, who must save (sigh) a kidnapped princess! There is the option to flick to a female protagonist called Tostada, but the story stays the same and progresses as if you were playing as Juan. The evil antagonist Calaca kills Juan, but luckily enough, a magical wrestling mask turns him into a magnificent luchador and he is revived, where he sets out to find the princess.
Along your journey you’ll encounter characters and enemies with such charm and humour, looking at you Flame Face! STCE will have players gripped with finding every item, looking in every corner to 100% this cartoon 2D, Metroidvania adventure. Make sure you look out for all the video game references too!
As you make your way through the game’s locales, you’ll come across various enemies and puzzles. Combat is remarkably satisfying. Chaining combos and seeing 10 moves quickly build up to 50 consecutive attacks while you take out multiple enemies feels amazing, and the character animations are exquisite to watch. Guacamelee’s combination of using these attacks as not only ways of inflicting damage but solving puzzles too is credit to the talent of the developers. The more you unlock later in the game, the better combos you can pull off.
You’ll also need to traverse back and use these new-found abilities to gain power-ups or reach previously unreachable areas. It’s a neat but not unheard of way of extending the game’s life. Wall jumping, double jumps, ground pounds, STCE includes all your platforming moves, and is as every bit good as the original, but what about all the new content?
Firstly, new areas have been added to the game and are integrated perfectly. They aren’t “additional levels” stuck on the main menu, they’re included in the game and if you hadn’t played the game before you wouldn’t realise they were brand new. They probably add an hour more content to the game, but both the Canal of Flowers and the Volcano are as beautifully made as the rest of the game.
A brand new boss, and personal favourite, resides in said Volcano. The Trio of Death, an amalgamation of three skeletons, provide a fun but challenging boss fight which will certainly take you a few tries to beat. With a great backtrack, The Trio makes use of all the abilities you’ve gained beforehand and rewards you for using them. The Trio’s humour is also consistent with the rest of the game as well as their attack animations, I’d love to see more. In fact, all the bosses in STCE were great except one, that damn Jaguar. It completely ignores anything you have learned along the way and is cheap and challenging for the sake of being hard. The end boss, much harder, at least has tactics and ways of intelligently taking it down, but the Jaguar is much the opposite.
A feature that will certainly help less skilled players is the INTENSO mode, where with the click of both control sticks, the player receives a timely strength boost and health boost. It’s extremely helpful in times of need and I found myself using it against the new elite enemies of the game, that will stop at nothing to take you down. As you’re approaching near death, activate INTENSO, regain some health and take them down, boom. STCE also adds health bars above enemy heads so you’ll know how close you are to taking them down.
Oh, and there’s lots more chickens. You can turn into a chicken and navigate small corridors, and you can also round them up in order to help fellow citizens. There’s also the El Inferno trails scattered around the world, which only the best of players will be able to beat. These trials will reward you with something special should you complete all of them, but I’ll let the players find out what that is.
The best addition to the STCE however, is the co-operative play. I didn’t expect it to be so much fun, especially when, stealth brag, an experienced player like me and a not so experienced player team up and race each other around the environments. Co-op will also help those who are finding some enemies tough to beat, an extra punch here and there doesn’t hurt. It is seamlessly integrated and works wonderfully, well done to Drinkbox for making the game much more accessible. Three save files are also available, so no need to share or overwrite each other’s progress.
Finally, there are two types of in-game currency, pesos and silver. The latter allows you to buy costumes which were previously sold as DLC, these costumes have various effects, such as making you stronger but slower, each has an advantage and disadvantage. Pesos will allow you to buy upgrades, such as more health, stamina or make your INTENSO last longer.
Guacamelee! STCE builds upon the amazing original with more of the same, and that’s a good thing. With a funny and charming narrative, though cliché, anyone looking for a platforming adventure should check this out. With enough brawling, chickens and folklore to please a small Mexican city, Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition will certainly have you hooked from start to finish. While you’re riding out the software drought of your next gen console, get downloading this brilliant indie title.
There’s a lot of new content in Super Turbo Championship Edition and Drinkbox have done enough to justify another purchase of Guacamelee!. While it’s certainly no sequel, Guacamelee! STCE is better than your average “Game of the Year” edition and serves to prove why Guacamelee was one of the best independent titles of last years, and still continues to be this time around.
Thank you to Drinkbox Studios for providing a review code in order to produce this review. The game was review on the Wii U platform. Both Off-TV play and the Wii U Pro Controller are supported. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition is out tomorrow for the PS4, if you already own the original on PS3 or Vita, it will be available for a reduced price on PS4. Xbox One owners will be able to pick it up for free with Games with Gold this month. Xbox 360 and Wii U owners will be able to pick it up from today.
