Developer UmaikiGames has released Skellboy on both the Nintendo Switch and Steam, a hack and slash action adventure that features a distinct, cubic-themed art style and great music that flares up nostalgia of older consoles. While the game does feature some enjoyable aspects, Skellboy ultimately suffers from some design choices and technical issues that keep it from being great, at least on the Nintendo Switch.
Save The Cubold Kingdom!
The Cubold Kingdom has been attacked from within by the King’s evil court magician, and society is set to fall apart. As a part of his evil master plan, the magician cast a spell to raise the dead in an effort to destroy order, but at the same time, inadvertently raised our protagonist, Skippy the Skeleton, as well. Players then embark on an adventure to save the kingdom. Yes, this is similar in plot to MediEvil, but without the same charm.
The premise is therefore straightforward, but the gameplay structure sees a big swing while playing. At first, the game is incredibly linear in its level design with virtually no decision making in terms of where to go and what to do. Trod onward and Skippy will encounter the next objective to deal with in a reliable fashion. The lack of decision-making on where to go is not necessarily a bad thing, since plenty of games today are designed with linear gameplay in mind, but about halfway through the game, the design pulls an M. Night Shyamalan type of twist and becomes far more open with places to explore.
The shift is in every way an improvement, since there are more areas to explore and more to do, though it makes the first half of the game feel unnecessarily constrained. If the game had remained on its linear path, the flow would feel consistent. Instead, the shift feels as though two different people worked on each half of the game each in its level design, but without much communication in how to build the world for players to explore.
Gameplay Like Kid Chameleon
Referencing the 1992 title from Sega is not completely accurate, but it’s what first comes to mind when playing as Skippy. Defeating enemies of different types allows players to don their various body parts and gain special effects. The premise is interesting, but ultimately underdeveloped. Some combination of parts is useful, while others offer little benefit at all.
Combat consists of simplistic, repetitive motions in this hack and slash that also feels underwhelming, or non-impactful. This may be an issue of the animation. A sword, for example, looks like it is swung in a short, low arc, as though the character were not wanting to be bothered to put in the effort. Other weapons, meanwhile, have animations that look great, like the overhead smash of club weapons, so it’s hit or miss in terms of combat animation.
Overall, combat against enemy units is not difficult, but it can be frustrating in certain locations due to the inability to control the camera. This results in situations where it is difficult to gauge how near or far an opponent is, resulting in being hit, or in frustrating platforming when Skippy needs to jump from place to place, only to fall because of an awkward angle in the camera.
Technical Issues Slow Down Gameplay
Finally, the last big issue that must be addressed is the current state of technical problems in the game on the Nintendo Switch. Up to this point, the issues listed can be relatively dismissed. The switch from linear to exploration in level design may not bother some players, and the same can be said for the underdeveloped system of using the body parts of enemies. However, there are almost always major issues relating to the game slowing down to almost unbearable speeds when both entering new environments or when there seems to be too many units on-screen at once.
It is not clear if this occurs on the PC version of the game as well, but it is doubtful considering the difference in hardware power between most modern-day PCs and the Nintendo Switch. With that in mind, the past few months have shown that the relatively underpowered hardware of the Switch is more than capable of handling games many thought impossible, including The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. For a game like Skellboy, which looks comparatively simple in its design and hardware demands, this seems like a sloppy mistake that should have been addressed prior to release.
Now, the developer has stated that a patch is being worked on to address this issue, and so in the future, this may be resolved. For now, however, the problem persists, and there is no need to rush out to buy a game that still needs work to be playable.
Fantastic Sound Design, But Not Enough To Save Skellboy
Despite its shortcomings in design, the sound is something that is done well. From the beginning, the game uses sound effects that are reminiscent of old Nintendo beat ‘em ups, and this is consistent throughout until the end.
Unfortunately, while Skellboy has its enjoyable moments, there is simply too much going against it to make the game worthwhile. If the game were more focused in its design, either towards exploration or linear gameplay, and if the system of taking the power of opponents were more thoroughly developed, and if the technical issues were non-existent, then Skellboy would be great. As it stands, it’s simply alright, lacking in areas that cannot be tolerated in today’s market with so many high-quality titles available.
A Switch copy of Skellboy was provided to TheGamer for this review. Skellboy is available now on Nintendo Switch and Steam.