Guacamelee Review

Right, so all I have to do is double jump, rooster uppercut, then double jump off that ledge change to the land of the dead in mid air, double jump back change to the land of the living mid air, repeat that 10 times then double jump transform into a chicken and land on the small platform at the top of the screen.... easy right....until halfway through your brain and hands lose sync and you plummet straight back to the beginning to try again for the 38th time....

Welcome to the infuriating world of Guacamelee!

It has to be said that whilst I found aspects of this game frustrating to the point of smashing up my controller I actually really really enjoyed this game.

You play as Juan an agave farmer who whilst trying to save the presidents daughter from the evil clutches of Carlos Calaca dies.... only to then be revived with a luchadore mark that makes him into a wrestling superhero badass!

The main story of the game is simple, kill Carlos Calaca (an evil skeleton) and his Hench men (and woman) whilst trying to save the presidents daughter.

The game is an action platformer much like Super Metroid, you start with basic punch kick combos and as you progress you unlock other powerful punches, jumps and head-butts etc. that help guide you through the game at the correct pace.

The first thing that struck me about this game was the bright vibrant colours (which really are beautiful), mix that in with a brilliantly composed soundtrack and the odd quest to make the worlds greatest enchilada and you have Guacamelee a great homage to all things Mexican.

The game comes with a great sense of humour which had many laugh out loud moments and is littered with nods to various Internet memes and subtle (and some not so subtle) homages to Super Metroid.

As I said above I actually found this game really enjoyable, whilst some of the jumping puzzles did annoy the shit out me so much that I had to turn the game off for an hour or face having to pay £20 for another game pad the majority of the time I really enjoyed perfecting my combos to successfully beat the crap our of the varying bad guys, and to be honest when you did pass the frustrating jumping puzzles the sense of achievement was incredible, albeit pretty short lived as you walk straight into another bloody jumping puzzle!

The game is very fast paced and on many of the boss fights for the first 5-6 times you're left thinking "what the fuck, this is impossible" however, this adds to the fun of the game as you have to persist and learn their movements to then perfect the timing of your attacks.

I would highly recommend this game but would like to add the following caveat:
 I cannot be held response able for:
- Break of gaming pads
- High levels of swearing
- Rage quits
- Mouth foaming through sheer anger"

Enjoy

-Lee

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