I recently received a review copy of 13AM Games’ Runbow Pocket Deluxe Edition as well as the Downloadable Content that came with it. Let me just say before I get into the review, this game will make you mad at times but you should be able to power through it. Let’s get into the review!
The high paced action of Runbow translates well to the Nintendo 3DS and is just as tough as other variations in the franchise. There are two modes to play right off the bat and the DLC unlocks a third. The DLC is a second story and you can purchase that from the Runbow shop on the main menu, similar to the Mario Kart 8 Wii U set-up.
There are two modes to play right off the bat, the Adventure mode and the Bowhemoth. There is also another adventure but that’s part of the DLC, Satura’s Space Adventure as well as Multiplayer mode. Satura is the enemy of Adventure mode and you’ll be using all of your skills to clear the levels. Each level has three medals you can collect by clearing the level in a certain time but that’s the challenging part.
The background changes color and in turn objects disappear when the background changes. This makes things so much more difficult because you need to be fast and at the same time, line up jumps and dodge attacks. Most levels allow you to get hit as many times as you like, except if you hit spikes, similar to Mega Man rules. If you jump on spikes it’s an instant death so try and avoid those.
The Adventure mode has you playing four different levels, over 140 different stages, trying to defeat Satura and collect medals along the way. The more medals you collect, the more extra goodies you can unlock in the gallery. Runbow has a ton of unlockables to discover while playing. You’ll stumble upon a lot of them by just playing the game and switching things in the menu. You get plenty of character unlockables at the start since the game is the Deluxe Edition but there are other characters hidden in the game but I’m not going to ruin the surprise for you.
Then there is the Bowhemoth, the tougher of the two solo modes. The gameplay mode is the same as Adventure mode except that it doesn’t save your progress. It does keep track of how many times you perish and you will die many times so don’t get discouraged. You will need to keep track of all the background color changes as well as how the mountaintop hangs. Keep an eye on that and you can tell where your next jump will be and you can line it up even if you feel the background change coming too fast for you. You will need to time everything in this mode, every jump, every background change, everything!
The second adventure, which is part of the DLC, Satura’s Space Adventure, plays similar to the Adventure mode. There are slight changes to the gameplay where at times the background doesn’t change color and gravity flips the playing field but that makes sense because you’re in space. The gravity flipping levels are some of the tougher levels in the game because it makes you rethink your jumping strategy as well as slow you down when you’re trying to be fast.
To recap, Runbow Pocket Deluxe Edition is a tough little 3DS game that will make you want to throw it against the wall because it’s challenging. However, there are all kinds of unlockables and purchasable that makes the game even better than when you start. You can play as Shovel Knight at one point in the game, how cool it that?
I’m giving Runbow Pocket Deluxe Edition for the Nintendo 3DS a 8.5/10. I would like to thank 13AM Games for the review code.