Antonblast is one of the games which left an impression from the recent Nintendo Direct, so I decided to give it a try. You play as Anton - an angry red man and that's all I can say about the lore. There is a devil who says snarky remarks at th…
Antonblast is one of the games which left an impression from the recent Nintendo Direct, so I decided to give it a try. You play as Anton - an angry red man and that's all I can say about the lore. There is a devil who says snarky remarks at the beginning of each stage, so I assume he's the antagonist. The art style really reminds me of old Cartoon Network shows like Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel. The devil in particular seems very much inspired by the Red Guy, but at least he's wearing pants.
The controls are simple - you get a jump, an attack button which makes Anton charge forward destroying crates, but bouncing off of indestructable objects or once he kills an enemy. There's also a slide button, but you have to use the momentum of running to activate it. When you press the attack button in the air Anton will start spinning and if he hits the ground he'll bounce off at a higher elevation. If you don't want to bounce you can press the slide button in the air and he'll perform an Anton Bomb diving head-first into the floor. If you press the attack button twice Anton will start running, but you have to press it again to actually hit something.
The levels themselves have a lot of gimmicks. This includes transporting Anton into the background, unbreakable boxes for which you have to find a detonator for and doors teleporting you to different places in the stage. There is a bit of exploration, but it can get confusing since there is no map and no clear indicator of where to go. When you reach the end of a stage a timer is activated and you have to go all the way back to the start. I normally don't like time trials, but the game is fast paced, so it fits.
Then I tried Cinnemon Springs - a tougher level, which showed some of the issues with the game. Due to his speed Anton is difficult to control and some sections require precision platforming on disappearing/moving platforms and even bouncing off of enemy projectiles. The checkpoints can be sparse and make you replay a lot of annoying parts. Overall this game looks like it will be fun, but frustrating experience.
