Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Willy Jetman: Astromonkey's Revenge
Developer: BLG Publishing
Publisher: BLG Publishing
Genre: platformer, action adventure, arcade shooter
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: 31 January 2020
Price: $14.99
Also Available On: PS4, Steam
When I first heard about Willy Jetman: Astromonkey's Revenge, I thought it was just one of those cheap, forgettable indie games that, we must admit, are quite abundant on the eShop. But oh no, this game, to put it simply, is amazingly and surprisingly good. I'm not much of a tea drinker, but this my cup of tea.
In this game, you play as the titular Willy Jetman, who lands on planet Gravos along with his trusty AI companion Gladys, and has to go through an epic adventure across different biomes to pick up garbage and debris from a crash-landed space ship scattered on the surface, all while having to battle against hostile alien creatures. Aside from these creatures, he also has to solve a much bigger mystery involving the space recycling company that employs him and Astromonkey, whom Willy thinks is involved in the catastrophe.
There is really nothing much groundbreaking about the story and it is there to keep things going, with some cutscenes shown when Willy gets to talk to NPCs that have new information on what to do and where to go next. Most of these NPC interactions contain humorous dialogues that reference pop culture and other media, such as anime, internet memes, etc. which makes them worth your while to go through.
The game is presented in a very clean-looking 16-bit aesthetics, with lots of colors and details both in the foreground and in the background. The colors are crisp and blend together well. The soundtrack is also brilliant, comprised of catchy 16-bit chiptunes. It is really like playing a game from the 90s.
As Willy goes through the different biomes of the game, you get to see how the color schemes change as you traverse the levels, which transition from the regular forest-type biome to a lava-rich one and so on. Within each biome await many different types of creatures that are mostly hostile, with some that will actively hunt you down. These creatures give XP when killed, of course, and also drop crystals, which give you credits, the main form of currency in the game. Some also drop HP, which are not much most of the time but may quite save you if you are low on health and the next save point is nowhere yet in sight. Some of these enemies hit hard, and if you are not careful, you will end up dying.
When you die, you respawn at a save point. There are at least two save points in each level, and they are far from each other so you better be careful not to die before reaching the next one, or else you lose all progress and credits. This could be very frustrating, but it is also a good way to grind for XP and crystals, as saving respawns not only you but also all of the enemies in the level. If you think you are not leveled up enough, go kill the enemies in the area, get killed, and go killing again. Rinse and repeat.
Most of the time, wherever there is a save point, there is also a merchant for Crush 'n Go, a store that sells upgrades and let you equip weapons and other gears. These weapons can be found and unlocked across the levels. Once unlocked, visit Crush 'n Go to equip them, and if you have enough cash, upgrade them, too, so that they can get higher firepower. These weapons vary in type of projectiles and power. You can equip up to two weapons at a time, one mapped to Y button and the other to the A button. Usually, you equip your main weapon on the Y button and the special or more damaging ones, like the rocket launchers, on A. By the way, you can get damaged by your own explosives, so be very careful not to get hit by them. As you progress, the types of enemies you encounter get more and more powerful, so it's good to upgrade your favorite weapons whenever you can.
Aside from the wide selection of weapons, Willy's main gear is his trusty jetpack, which allows him to freely fly around and navigate in all directions for as long as there is fuel in the tank. To refill the fuel, simply land and wait until the tank is fill, then off you go again. Using the jetpack can be tricky at the beginning, but the more you upgrade and use it, you will be able to master it. Pretty handy when battling against airborne enemies and reaching cliffs and ledges. There are also some sections in the game that rely heavily on your ability to maneuver in the air in the most efficient way possible.
The more you kill enemies, the more XP you get. Earn enough XP and you will level up. Each time you level up, your HP meter increase by 5 and your jetpack power increase by 5 seconds. Also scattered across the levels are permanent upgrades to your XP, HP, and jetpack power meters so it's good to always explore. There are also hidden areas in some levels containing either any of these power-ups, large chunks of crystals, strong enemies (that drop lots of XP and crystals), and Champion Idols, which can be used to unlock new weapons and power-ups once you reach a certain area in the game. There are a total of 20 of such golden statues, with some hidden quite well. Thorough exploration of each the levels is the key to finding them all.
The game is divided into worlds, and each world into levels, where the goal is to reach the entrance to the next one. As you progress into the game, the levels become harder and harder to traverse, as new enemy types await you. You have to earn enough credits to upgrade your weapons and gears. Aside from the enemies readily seen in the levels, there are also some caverns within these levels that you can explore to fight tougher enemies to obtain new useful items. Most of these are optional, but go and explore them anyway as they are very much part of the fun.
Overall, Willy Jetman: Astromonkey's Revenge is another indie gem that is very easy to recommend. It's really fun to play from start to finish. Some areas can be a bit frustrating, but if ever you get killed, you'll just have to learn from your mistakes and give it another go. How can you say no to awesome retro-inspired visuals and soundtrack? This game is priced quite nicely at $14.99, and you'll get a solid 10-15 hours out of it on your first playthrough. The game also has an achievement system, so you can go for another playthrough if you want to get them all. That is good bang for your buck right there. So strap in and let your inner space explorer in you roam the skies in this excellent game.
Replay Value: High
PROS
CONS
- Excellent retro-inspired visuals and soundtrack
- Wide selection of weapons and gears to equip
- Upgrading equipment is quite expensive but worth it, and it thus encourages you to explore and shoot down enemies more
- Dialogues between Willy and NPCs are often hilarious, with references to pop culture
- Good variety of enemies
- Navigating using the jetpack is fun!
- Very good use of HD Rumble
- Solid frame rate almost throughout the game, with some negligible slow downs when there are lots of enemies on the screen at a time
- Ideal for playing on handheld mode
CONS
- Some questionable level design on some sections of the game, especially on those timed labyrinths: if you are unable to reach the end before the time expires, there is no way to go back to the beginning without dying
- Boss battles lack variety, and most of them can one-hit kill you, making the battles a bit frustrating
- You cannot heal outside of saving, which refill your HP meter; this can be a source of much frustration as save points are often far from one another
RATING: 4.5/5 Jetpacks and Shuriken Guns
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