Super Bomb Rush Review

Super Bomb Rush is a game which you can't definitively say yes or no to anyone asking if they should buy it. Many of its features are either liked or hated by many, and that is what it really depends on. There are a few things the developers could do to make a "yes" more likely, but personal preference will be the greatest deciding factor here.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Super Bomb Rush isn't meant to be deep by any stretch of the word. The gameplay consists of pressing the D-pad (not the thumbsticks) and occasionally A & B to "defuse" bombs. The game aims for "just one more play" gameplay with all modes being incredibly challenging and in which they will all take a very large amount of practice.

You begin with only arcade mode unlocked. You'll have to play the same bombs over and over again until you complete a few challenges to give you enough coins for goal rush mode, because the game gives an inconsistent and paltry amount of coins for each playthrough of arcade mode. The arcade mode was incredibly hard for a reason that I cannot believe the developers overlooked. For some reason, you can only use the D-pad to press the arrow keys to defuse bombs. I believe that using the joystick would be much faster, and more fluid. With the D-pad, it doesn't always work right, it double presses, or doesn't press at all. To add to that, you need to be incredibly fast, as in later sections you still have only five seconds to complete up to 20+ different moves. It is too fast for the D-pad, and it adds far too much artificial difficulty to an already extremely hard game.

Goal Rush mode is where you'll spend most of your time. It features extremely hard and quick challenges that will require a ton of practice. These are made even harder by the aforementioned D-pad controls, and with the delay between some of the bombs in this mode I'm not sure all of it is possible. This little challenges are extremely hard to the point where even with a ton of practice I wasn't sure I could even beat the "hard" challenges. For many people, I can see this as a major turn-off because it is very possible their effort will never be rewarded. Still, the incredibly hard gameplay made me just want to practice more, although I know I'll never beat them all.

The game offers co-op with two different modes to play through. The versus mode is just keep defusing bombs until someone fails, with a few different difficulty levels. The co-op has you playing the arcade mode with both players defusing the same bomb each with different arrows. While both of these modes are fun, they don't add too much to the game and aren't very deep at all. Still, if you have a friend these modes could be a good option.

Story

Not applicable. This game does not have a story.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics and sound in this game are surprisingly important, maybe even to the point where they outweigh the importance of the gameplay itself.

Graphically, the game can be described as flashy yet static, with very little going on in a sense. Still, even with the nearly static overlay there are some serious multicolored flashes. The game even has an epilepsy warning that says if you aren't feeling well you simply shouldn't play this game. This game was clearly made to be flashy, with a very colorful palette and things seemingly moving constantly despite the main game basically being a static picture with a few different bombs that can be diffused. I can see these graphics either as appealing or extremely off-putting, but it all depends on what you like.

In the sound department, you'll find just what you should expect for a game not designed for people with any chance at seizures. The sounds are very arcade-like, and the soundtrack is one that if you aren't interested in, you really won't be interested in. The game's soundtrack is a variety of techno, which blasts through the whole experience. I found that the sounds themselves had a lot to do with memes for some reason, with air horns screaming about and the announcer yelling "MLG!" after you defuse a bomb. These graphics and sounds when combined will either be liked or hated, but they are most likely the largest deciding factor on whether or not you should purchase this game.

Achievements

This game is incredibly hard, and the achievement list reflects that. Super Bomb Rush has 25 achievements for 1000 gamerscore, and currently (a week after release) nobody has gotten over 515 gamerscore in the game. Nobody has beaten ANY of the modes, and many of the achievements are grindy as well. I think the list is fine for such a hard game, but you should know what you will have to do if you are a completionist. The only "odd" achievement was resetting your game progress, which I just don't understand as an achievement. It is a fine achievement list with a few grindy achievements, but it may be one of the hardest modes out there.

Overall, Super Bomb Rush is an overly hard game that almost every piece of will divide people on. The gameplay that is too hard for its own good, the flashy graphics, and the sounds that fit with them. If these aren't interesting for you, you won't be interested in the game at all. If they are, then this game is for you. This game isn't one that you can just recommend or not recommend because of this, although if they fix the controls I would lean a little bit more towards "recommend."



Game: Super Bomb Rush!
Developer: Curvature Systems
Publisher: Curvature Systems
Price: $14.49
Size: 1.36 GB
Release Date: June 21 2017
For more info: http://www.superbombrush.com/
Purchase from Microsoft Store