Well, here it is, my final game of 2024. I do intend to get to Brothership eventually, but probably not this month, which leaves Antonblast as the last game I was really excited for this year. And after hearing all the glowing praise and being forced to wait about a week for the Switch port to be released, did it live up to my expectations? Well... I hate to say it, but, not entirely.
So let's start with the good stuff because there is a lot of good stuff here. Antonblast immediately hits you in the face with its fantastic presentation. The game is filled with crunchy, fluid spritework that feels like that tried-and-true GBA artstyle on steroids. The main characters Anton and Annie are incredibly expressive, the boss fights are huge, and all the environments just pop. But while Antonblast is primarily inspired by Wario Land, it's also almost just as inspired by Crash Bandicoot and that shows in how the game looks like a love letter to 90s cartoons. I especially love how the main antagonist, Satan, has a voice that sounds almost exactly like Dr Neo Cortex. Speaking of sound, Antonblast's soundtrack is absolutely fantastic. Every track is energetic and catchy, often dripping with that 90s synth. When I heard the theme for Slowroast Sewer and realized how much it sounds like Castlevania's Wandering Ghosts, I knew I was in for something special. However, with the default options, the music is seriously drowned out by the game's many sound effects to I'd recommend adjusting that a bit. Sadly, despite the delays, the Switch port still suffers from a decent amount of slowdown, especially during the intense escape sequences. From what I can tell, the devs are being really vigilant with pushing out patches for both this along with other bits of fan criticism, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tired of games not just launching in a decent state.
As I said, Antonblast plays like a fusion between Wario Land and Crash Bandicoot. The movement is more Wario, with weighty momentum-based platforming and your primary move being a dash. But there's also a lot of Crash-esque touches like an abundance of boxes to wreck and a CTR-ass boost system for your dash. In terms of the moment to moment gameplay, I still think Antonblast controls quite well. Both Anton and Annie play almost exactly the same, but they have a solid sense of weight and momentum to them and feel really responsive when moving fast. All the moves flow well together but it's tight enough that I feel like I'm always able to reliably go where I need to. In general, I think Antonblast's control scheme works best when you're moving really fast. When the game makes you do more precise platforming, however, the weighty movement can feel like more of a hindrance, as it's very easy to undershoot platforms. Similarly to Crash Bandicoot itself, bouncing across crates in particular can feel a bit iffy and unreliable which is a shame since collectibles are often hidden behind these kinds of platforming sections. This issue aside though, I do think Antonblast controls really well especially once you hit that flow state.
As for the level design, Antonblast's stages are generally really fun. They all have enjoyable and memorable gimmicks, and scouring them for hidden areas, tokens, and collectibles is really engaging. They lean into the more explorative side of Wario Land compared to a certain other recent indie release of similar inspiration, and not only does that help Antonblast stand out but it's also just a style of level design that I personally prefer. There's some wild concepts here too like a pinball stage, a mall filled with shooting galleires and ball pits, and even a backrooms stage with non-euclidean level design. That being said, I think Antonblast's stages peak around the middle of the game, as that was where most of the examples I listed came from. The last few stages (barring the final final stage) are pretty unmemorable and drag on way too long, though that can be said about the whole game frankly. There's only twelve stages but most of them can go upwards of a half-hour which makes actually replaying them for time trials or getting the collectibles you missed a real commitment (thank goodness for the Restart From Checkpoint option). I'd rather we got like 20 normal-length stages rather than just twelve of these behemoths.
However, while most of my gripes with Antonblast are fairly minor in the grand scheme of things, there is one especially big issue that really dragged down my experience with the game: The bosses. Antonblast's boss fights are certainly impressive in terms of scope and scale, often boasting colorful personalities, multiple phases, and some truly sick visual effects. However, in terms of the actual gameplay, they are pretty rough. Outside of the genuinely great Freako Dragon, most of the fights into Antonblast have one of two issues, or even both. Either they're lengthy waiting games that force you to outlast long attack patterns before you can get a hit in (Smallbuster), or you can get hits in whenever you want but it's such a visual mess that I can barely tell what I'm hitting half the time (Jewel Ghoul). Even when the bigger fights have checkpoints, I found myself repeatedly walled by multiple boss fights. It's a real shame too because I generally really liked the levels, but I found myself always dreading the boss encounters. The final nail in the coffin was the final boss fight against Satan himself which I genuinely don't think I can beat. I can't even get past the first phase, it's both of the aforementioned issues combined and then some.
It's a shame that my time with Antonblast ended on such a sour note though, because at its best, it is really fun. When you're blasting through the large explorative levels, messing around with Anton's fun movement and taking in the chaotic visuals and bopping music, Antonblast can be one of the best gaming experiences of the year. Most importantly, it's got a lot of heart and soul, and the developer's love for series like Wario Land, Crash Bandicoot, and Sonic is on full display. But when Antonblast drops the ball, it really drops the ball. As I said, it seems the developer is trying to push out updates as a response to player feedback so maybe I'll come back in a few months and see if I can beat it. But as of now, I respect Antonblast a hell of a lot, but I can't quite say I love it yet.
Initial Score: 4/5 Stars
Update: Well, the performance patch has been released, and while it's not perfect, it does a lot to fix those really severe dips. I also tried turning off hitstun and that combined with the improved performance does quite a lot to help me keep my bearings. But most importantly, I took the opportunity to give the final boss another try, and while he was certainly very tough, I'm happy to say that I finally beat it. For as much as the first phase gave me grief, the rest of the seven phases were really fun and cinematic so I'm glad I came back to stick it through to the end. Now that the initial friction and frustration seems to be behind me, and I'm now genuinely excited to get back to fully getting all of Antonblast's collectibles, I will admit that I'm looking back at the game a lot more fondly now. In the end, what really stuck with me was the fluid movement, the memorable stages, the wacky visuals, and all those references to games and internet culture. So you know what, I think I'm going to bump my score up a bit.
Current Score: 4.5/5 Stars
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