Drinkbox Studios returns with its greatest effort to date.
As for the presentation, it's simple but ideal for the developer's work. The graphics are quite fresh, presenting a 2D style world across Juan's Mexican landscape, while delivering on cute animation details (the enemies and heroes alike have detail to spare) and beautiful landscapes to travel across, especially across two dimensions. Also, the in-game jokes are hilarious, nodding to such familiar favorites as Tales, as well as Castle Crashers (or, in this case, Casa Crashers – watch for the billboard).
The music is terrific as well, with plenty of inspired Mexican guitar beats to keep you entranced throughout the game. Some voicework might've been welcome, but then again, Guacamelee! works favorably well without it.
If anything, what really weighs this effort down is a lack of replay value. It is cool to stop in shops and purchase items for further replayability, but you can probably discover everything it has to offer within about eight to ten hours or so. There is local co-op capability in the PS3 build, but it doesn't do much to expand gameplay, outside of maybe chaining combos together. Plus, let's be honest, the secondary character isn't nearly as appealing as Juan.
But I digress. For a $15 purchase, you're getting quite the experience with what Guacamelee! has to offer. It's fun to play, well worth exploring every nook and cranny of the city, and packed with the kind of personable presentation that shows what kind of devotion the developer is capable of. Drinkbox Studios has come a long way within just a certain set of games, and it leaves us eager just what it could possibly cook up next. That's worth having a fiesta over, senor.
Score: 9 / 10
