Willy Jetman: Astromonkey’s Revenge, a new action platformer by freshman developer Last Chicken Games, touts itself as a game that hearkens back to the console classics of the 90s. In its quest to fulfill that promise, it provides leans on a somewhat retro aesthetic, a high difficulty, and plenty of references to classic games of the 80s and 90s. It's not as polished as the games it tries to evoke, but it still manages to put together a delightful, if uneven adventure that has more strengths than flaws.
Planet Of The Apes
Willy Jetman: Astromonkey’s Revenge tells the story of a monkey that's flying a spaceship crashes into an alien planet after a banana somehow makes its way into the ship's tailpipe. You, the heroic Willy Jetman, are sent to the planet in order to... pick up all the debris. After all, you're a garbage man.
In fact, a good part of the gameplay revolves around hunting down pieces of garbage, picking them up, and tossing them in the nearest conveniently-located recycling center. However, you're a garbage man with a jet pack and a gun. It's a good thing too, since the planet has no shortage of hazards and creatures that want to see you dead.
The main meat of the game is an action platformer that has you jumping, flying, and shooting your way through obstacles, unlocking more upgrades and weapons as the game goes on. There's a little bit of Metroidvania involved, with some secret areas and optional dungeons to go through, but on the whole, it's a rather linear experience moving from sector to sector in a set order. There's nothing particularly revolutionary at play here, but it's all put together well enough.
The result is an mix of scavenger hunting, gunplay, and carefully dodging obstacles as you more or less stumble your way into uncovering a corporate conspiracy, becoming the hero of an alien civilization, and defeating an astromonkey who, spoiler alert, wants revenge.
Laugh It Up, Fuzzball
As you might have guessed from the description, the screenshots, and the title of the game, Willy Jetman: Astromonkey’s Revenge isn't exactly a game that takes itself seriously.
Its sense of humor is a bit hard to pin down, however. Sometimes it relies on slapstick and absurd antics, such as by letting you fight an optional boss by destroying a toilet and plunging down into the sewer system. Other times, it hits you out of nowhere with clever dialog that feels like it's right out of Rick and Morty. However, on more than a few occasions, it relies on jokes that are almost insultingly lazy, such as commenting on how a level-up system is like "something out of a video game."
It may may not be comedic genius, but it remains entertaining enough to encourage the player to keep moving forward.
Retro Games Were Hard, After All
Willy Jetman can be so maddeningly difficult that you'll occasionally need something to encourage you after a few badly-timed deaths. Some enemies do an obscene amount of damage, bringing you from full health to no health after just a few poor decisions on your part. Progress is only ever saved when you intentionally seek out a save point, meaning that on more than a few occasions, a spat of misplaced overconfidence ended with me having to replay entire sections of the game.
Not helping matters were some strange choices the developers made about the game's controls. For instance, picking up a piece of trash uses a different button than throwing it, and getting the most use out of your jet pack requires split-second timing of both the jump button and the jet pack button. Sure, these are things you can get used to in time, but it feels like they're unnecessary barriers to entry for a game that's already tough as nails.
Another baffling thing about the game is the weapons, which all are supposedly designed to work well against different types of enemies. Energy weapons are meant to be used against robots, fire is meant to be used against insects, and so on. Except... for all the game's claims about elemental effects, the shuriken gun always seems to be the most effective.
I'm not saying that in an abstract way. Level-for-level, the shuriken gun hurts bugs more than a flamethrower, hurts robots more than a energy weapon, and hurts fish more than an explosives. Apparently, for all their supposed weaknesses, nothing can stand up to shurikens.
Eventually, you'll unlock something called a "mini nuker" that blows everything out of the water, but it always feels like the developers somehow messed up their weapon stats and didn't notice anything was wrong by press time.
Major Tome To Ground Control
Even with its faults, there's a strong core to this quirky little platformer. Jetting around dangerous environments while letting off loose firepower at enemies creates exactly the kind of catharsis that you'd hope to find in that description, and the unforgiving difficulty does mean that every bit of progress feels like an accomplishment.
It's not perfect, but Willy Jetman has plenty to offer people looking for a retro-inspired game that doesn't take itself too seriously. If you're willing to look past its rough edges, you'll find yourself having a good time.
A Switch copy of Willy Jetman: Astromonkey’s Revenge was purchased by TheGamer for this review. Willy Jetman: Astromonkey’s Revenge is available now for Nintendo Switch and PC.
Willy Jetman: Astromonkey’s Revenge