Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition Review

Share Review

Guacamelee is set in Mexico and is about an ordinary citizen called Juan Aguacate, whose job it is to save El Presidente’s daughter after she was captured by Carlos Calaca. Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition puts together all previous DLC into one game, and adds in more content to the original story in the form of boss battles and new levels. Playable characters have also received new abilities. This game is focused around luchadores; this is reflected greatly in the gameplay.

You can pull off wrestling style moves that would only be possible in a video game or your wild imagination! At first you start off with easy one button moves, but as you progress further you learn more complex combos from a giant chicken. You read it right! A giant chicken! This game was originally released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in April 2013. It was later ported to Microsoft Windows in August 2013. Now an updated edition has been released in July 2014 for Wii U, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Xbox 360.

The story of Guacamelee draws its inspiration from Mexican culture and folklore. The game’s story is very good, and shows why it was such a big hit in its original release. The story is easy enough to follow and gives you the choice to do mini side missions, or just work through the main story. Seeing as it is set in Mexico you will pick up a little bit of Spanish along the way. What I loved about this game is how there are hidden gems all over the place, at one point I saw a billboard for ‘Simulador de Cabra’ or ‘Goat Simulator’. I also saw a billboard with ‘Bust it Bill’ which is a not so subtle parody  ‘Wreck it Ralph’. The initial gameplay of Guacamelee may seem a bit short, there is still the opportunity to run around and explore.

One thing that bothered me was that you had to go into options to change the screen you play on, whereas most games on Wii U have a set button for that. However, this is just me being picky as there weren’t many negative things about this game. A nice surprise was to see that the gamepad gameplay wasn’t too bad at all, seeing as it was originally released for PlayStation Vita. Playing on the gamepad delivers an equally enjoyable gaming experience, unlike most Wii U games that decrease in quality when played this way. You can also buy different in game items in Guacamelee. You can purchase “Abilities” which are powers like extra health and stamina, and “Costumes” which can affect the way you fight as well as making you look like a badass!

The complex 2D art style in Guacamelee was yet another thing that made the game great. 2D suggests simplicity but there is incredible detail within each stage, as you can guess these stages look exquisite in full HD. Another positive aspect was the blood pumping soundtrack, as the tone changed depending in what type of area you are in. For example if you were just strolling in a peaceful place, lovely tranquil music will play. But if you are in a dangerous area, then the music would speed up and prepare you for battle! There’s also a lot of special moves to unlock, some let you run up walls, and others gave you the power to body slam enemies. My personal favourite by far was ‘Pollo Power’, which allowed you to turn into a little chicken at the press of a button.

I’m going to give Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition 9 out of 10. This game was just so fun to play! And although the main game is rather short, there is so much to do after like exploring the open world. Guacamelee is one of those game you can’t bring yourself to stop playing. I can see why this game was praised back in 2013, I don’t know why I didn’t get my hands on it sooner!

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Wii U code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.

Subscribe to our mailing list

Get the latest game reviews, news, features, and more straight to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing to Bonus Stage.

Something went wrong.

  • Gameplay - /10
    0/10
  • Graphics - /10
    0/10
  • Sound - /10
    0/10
  • Replay Value - /10
    0/10
User Review
0 (0 votes)
Comments Rating 0 (0 reviews)

Share Review