Super Roboy: A Metroidvania Masterpiece or a Frustrating Maze?

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As a passionate gamer, let me tell you about my personal project, “Super Roboy.” This brainchild is the creation of Vincent Penning, a solo developer who’s not only an artist but also a programmer, much like my late father would have been proud of. Inspired by our shared love for gaming and fueled by memories of us working together, I decided to honor his legacy by developing a video game that we could have enjoyed creating side by side.

To bring this vision to life, I took the indie game to Kickstarter, seeking additional funding, playtesters, and valuable feedback. The response was overwhelming, helping me shape the final product that gamers can now experience for themselves. “Super Roboy” is more than just a game; it’s a hand-drawn Metroidvania adventure where you control an android character on a quest to rediscover lost memories and find his father in a desolate world.

From the get-go, the game “Super Roboy” stands out in various aspects – it’s a self-funded project through Kickstarter, an independent production, a solo developer’s creation, a 2D graphic adventure, and a Metroidvania genre title. These characteristics give Penning’s initial game a distinct flavor, with some areas excelling while others could use further refinement. “Super Roboy” fulfills its promise of immersing players in a comic book-style world where they can both explore and battle villains in an enjoyable manner. However, the struggle to provide an open world with a unique skill system might significantly impact the experience for newcomers jumping into the game without prior knowledge of “Super Metroid” or guidance.

Super Roboy Excels at All the Things that Fans Will Pick Up the Game For

Metroidvania-style games, initially associated with the platformer genre, have expanded to establish their unique identity. However, gamers continue to seek out these titles for their precise controls, seamless movement systems, and challenging combat. At first glance, Super Roboy might appear as a charming entry point into this sub-genre, but it’s primarily designed for enthusiasts who cherish the genre and desire something innovative yet reminiscent of old classics. While it starts off in a straightforward manner, with an AI guardian named Virgil informing Roboy that his memories have been erased and they must locate his father, the game quickly leaves the player on their own to navigate and discover upgrades. Virgil merely highlights significant locations on Roboy’s map, leaving the rest of the exploration and progression entirely in the player’s hands.

The adventure in ‘Super Roboy’ commences with a straightforward progression, as players leap and fire their way through platforms and adversaries, much like other games. However, they eventually encounter crystals and are informed about the initial set of abilities at their disposal. Unlike traditional games such as ‘Metroid’, where power-ups are scattered across the map, ‘Super Roboy’ introduces an Enemy Skill system that allows players to unlock skills by defeating a certain number of enemies and collecting specific crystals. At first, this system doesn’t pose much of a challenge since there are plenty of enemies and green crystals (among others) are easy to find, with many of the initial abilities serving as optional upgrades.

In the initial stages, players are granted sufficient opportunity to familiarize themselves with the concept of Super Roboy, an experience further enhanced by the game’s intuitive and enjoyable controls. The actions such as jumping, shooting, sliding, and rolling respond promptly, making their use a joyful experience and their enhancements rewarding once uncovered. This aligns perfectly with the exploration and platforming that Super Roboy provides, one of the more liberating and player-driven adventures available. However, this also presents a dual aspect for the game as a whole. After completing the tutorial, it may not be immediately apparent what to do next, potentially causing confusion among players.

The Innovation in Super Roboy Might Hinder More Than it Excites

It might be contended that top-tier video games strike a balance between imparting information and allowing players to discover things for themselves. Games like Metroidvanias have a reputation for fostering this exploration, yet the Enemy Skill system in _Super Roboy_ stumbles due to its design. While the Enemy Skill system effectively grants stat enhancements and weak points for specific foes, it falters when essential upgrades are confined within the same system. Maneuvers such as a double jump, wall jump, and underwater capabilities are hidden behind certain numbers of enemies and bosses. Unfortunately, some crucial adversaries can only be found in one challenge room scattered across four distinct areas. If players wish to explore and miss just one room in the entire labyrinth, they could inadvertently hinder their progress due to vague instructions and no clear directions on how to acquire the essential ability needed to move forward.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that an open-ended Metroidvania style has been implemented before, and it appears that Super Roboy still highlights the need for further refinement in this area. The game offers nearly all four areas from the start, but without clear guidance on which Enemy Skill is essential or not, players might discover secret passages prematurely. Over time, fans may grow accustomed to this, but the disorganized and confusing management of skills could cause unnecessary frustration as they search for hidden enemies required to unlock missing skills, leaving them with an incomplete understanding of the map.

In many instances, modifications made by Super Roboy to its formula seem effective on paper, yet they don’t translate smoothly into gameplay. Crucial abilities should be accessible as standard unlocks rather than being concealed behind routine adversaries. The decision to make essential Floater collectibles invisible on the map without a skill and locking the rarest crystals behind them feels more frustrating than rewarding. Some Floaters necessary for yellow crystals are even hidden behind optional side quests, making the pursuit of yellow crystals challenging in the long term. Despite the challenges posed by skills being locked behind unpredictable prerequisites and collectibles being confusingly placed within reach at times, the movement system and the enjoyable fundamentals of Super Roboy will motivate players to explore and traverse the world out of curiosity. I was able to solve puzzles that hindered my progress simply by trying a few theories to see what worked, but this approach shouldn’t be the solution for every obstacle in Super Roboy. This is particularly true when players are left to deduce essential information, such as the Bounce skill enabling players to jump on dangerous bombs, which isn’t clearly explained.

Making a few key adjustments could prevent unnecessary searching, for instance, labeling boss rooms on the map, as well as increasing the depth of interactions with characters like Virgil and Roboy. Instead of just finding brief notes scattered across the map, more in-depth conversations could have provided better guidance throughout the game. Regarding the narrative, it’s fair to say that the appeal of Super Roboy doesn’t lie primarily in its storyline, as character interactions are limited during the adventure. Although Super Roboy aims to emulate the atmosphere of Hollow Knight‘s Hallownest through letters and journal entries, it falls short in creating the same level of intrigue and allure.

Super Roboy is a Metroidvania Purely for a Love for the Genre

Instead of criticizing, it’s quite commendable that the indie game Super Roboy focuses its attention on exploration, movement, and combat mechanics. These elements are actually what make this game stand out. For instance, aimless exploration is rewarding as players gain Essence by defeating repeated enemies, which can be used to level up Roboy, making it easier to tackle bosses and later enemies. The Skill system is also impressive with its four elemental upgrades and status ailments that add complexity to what could have been a simple combat system. Additionally, Super Roboy borrows elements from RPGs by featuring an enemy bestiary where players can view the weaknesses of each enemy in a user-friendly but somewhat chaotic menu.

In the battles against the bosses in ‘Super Roboy’, using elemental weapons and status ailments becomes quite significant. The right mix can swiftly defeat even the most difficult bosses, providing a rewarding experience. At first, fighting the Mutant King Minos was tough, but after enhancing my bio resistance with extra crystals and applying poison to him, coupled with remembering his attack pattern, he wasn’t much of a challenge. As for higher difficulties, these skills will become crucial since health particles are scarce in hard mode and the bosses’ health bars are significantly larger than the other settings. The game’s final stretch, when players reach the Power Plant, is particularly challenging on all difficulty levels, making ‘Super Roboy’ surprisingly tough to complete.

Breaking the Mold Isn’t Required for Super Roboy to Be a Worthwhile Metroidvania

Creating a video game like Super Roboy is much like crafting other artistic works; throughout the process, one key idea or theme must shine as the work’s essence and objective. In the case of Super Roboy, its mission was to provide an engaging hand-drawn Metroidvania adventure, and it achieves that goal effectively. The movement system encourages exploration even during unclear objectives, the bosses pose a challenge with intricate patterns requiring close observation for mastery, and almost every zone contains items worth revisiting once upgrades are unlocked. Moreover, its appealing and endearing visual style adds to the enjoyment, featuring charming sprite animations and detailed backdrops filled with surprises. Although Super Roboy has its flaws, it also demonstrates promising potential for future 2D animated games from the same developer.

Super Roboy is an excellent and uncomplicated Metroidvania tailored for enthusiasts of the genre, although it might not be easy to suggest it for beginners in the platformer sub-genre. If you’ve already conquered Hallownest or even completed a Mega Man game, you’ll feel right at home during the game’s brief but challenging playthrough. Super Roboy lives up to its promises in a distinctive manner, making it a worthwhile adventure to embark on.

Super Roboy is available now for PC. Game Rant received a PC code for this review.

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2025-01-22 09:17