Imagine you’re sitting down playing Super Mario Brothers and instead of simply progressing left to right as a down on his luck plumber who is tripping on magic mushrooms, hopping over turtles, and collecting spare change, you had to jump on the turtles, carry the shell to the end of the level and throw it at the flag, only to have to backtrack and complete this task with each and every turtle before moving forward with your life. That is essentially what you get when you boot up Super Skull Smash GO! 2 Turbo.

The story puts us in the shoes of a nameless pink being that we will call Bob, and is tasked with ridding the local village of the Evil King’s undead minions. Along the way you will encounter other villagers that will provide you with some overly obvious tutorial like tidbits, which are rarely needed. The game gives Bob little means of offense, leaving him with ability to jump on enemy heads, much like everyone’s favorite pudgy Italian. While the enemies are not limited to the skeletons that make up the bulk of the enemies you’ll encounter, you will have to pick up, kick, or throw their heads and carry them to a specific area in the game and launch them at it to be rid of them (sadly, chucking the head does nothing in the form of an attack, with its only secondary purpose being to collect coins, which we’ll get to later). This proves to be one of the greatest challenges the game offers, as you must throw the skulls, since dropping or carrying them doesn’t work. As if making one difficult throw isn’t painful enough, you’ll often have to do this three or more times since you have to clear the level of the skeletons to progress, often backtracking through the level multiple times to complete it.

Why the game tasks you with only “removing” the skeletons when there are clearly other enemies that were spawned by the tyrannical king is beyond me. Are the skeletons the source of the villain’s power? Are the other enemies just misunderstood? I wish I could say, but sadly I was unable to complete the entire game, since it is painfully difficult. Retro inspired games are a dime a dozen, and while few modern games in this venture capture the difficulty that 90% of the NES games offered to us 80’s kids, this game is a prime example of a retro game done right, even if the rest of the game doesn’t stand out. The enemy AI is extremely basic, with most of the enemies simply walking back and forth; however, the traps and often pinpoint accuracy the jumps require are far from easy. Many levels have platforms that disappear quickly and will come in waves, meaning if you are just one second off, you’re dead. With no checkpoints in place, you’ll have to start the level over multiple times.

In addition to the skulls that you are required to purge from the game world, each level includes a number of shimmering coins and a single gem hidden (often in plain sight) to find. What these are used or needed for is still beyond me, but it does give you something to work towards while you complete the small levels. The game world is broken up into small segments, which throw bonus levels at you regularly, all of which offer permanent upgrades for Bob. These small rooms are comprised of basic puzzles that break up the monotony of the never ending fetch quest that makes up the bulk of the game.

Each world features unique backgrounds, puzzles, and mechanics, all of which are reminiscent of assets and textures used in NES titles from long ago. None of these appear to be outright rip offs, but coupled with the polyphonic music and sound effects, you can’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia when playing the title. The additional buttons being used to pick up or throw the skulls are really the only thing that would have made this title out of place on the original Nintendo system.

Sure, this game will never be the most popular streamed game and your kids will likely make fun of you for playing it with its basic presentation, but there is a respectable challenge with this title. If you’re looking for something to evoke that sense of nostalgia that most retro inspired games fail to meet, look no further than Super Skull Smash GO! 2 Turbo. 

7 out of 10

Pros

• Actually Feels Like a Retro Game
• Basic Controls
• Tons of Content

Cons

• Lack of Checkpoints
• Minor Enemy Variety
• Too Much Backtracking

Super Skull Smash GO! 2 Turbo was developed by TACS Games and published by Poppy Works. It launched on PC, PS4, and PS Vita on July 17th, 2018, for $9.99. The game was provided to us for review on PS4. If you’d like to see more of Super Skull Smash Go! 2 Turbo, check out the Steam page.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

 

 

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