Much like its primary ’80s visual style, the imagery posed feels more so a loving indulgence in that particular culture. There’s no surprising gameplay depth or some fourth-wall breaking, left-field turn players can expect from out this brief seven/eight hour title. Even if Studio Koba’s game-within-a-game set-up - the idea that just maybe we the player may in fact be controlling someone else controlling the titular Narita Boy - is admittedly all surface-level. Narita Boy somehow finds a way to make such fractured visuals not only tolerable, but in a way effective at what it’s meaning to portray here. All manner of fog, bloom and letterboxing too, just as guilty. And further a field, the artistically-misled perception that a move away from clarity somehow heightens an aesthetic. We believe that your voice matters.Īlso.I’ve got to give it to Studio Koba and Narita Boy for using what might be one of the most despised forms of post-processing - and generally one not many people would go out of their way to ensure is existent in a game of their choosing - namely Chromatic Aberration. We aren't just a news and reviews site, we are a community. Your source for everything Nintendo Switch.
*Game Download Code supplied for review purposes Action Adventure March 2021 Narita Boy nintendo switch Nintendo Switch eShop retro reviews Studio Koba team17 There’s good games, and then there are games that draw you in, leaving you with the feeling of wanting more and more, wanting to see where things go, how they go. I was never bored playing and always wanted to get further and further. A mechsuit, surfing, the boss fights having you mix up everything you’ve learned. The game constantly tries to spice up the experience. There’s constantly new mechanics to learn, new enemies, set pieces. The story, especially about the creator is definitely worth getting invested into as well as you slowly learn about his life. In the emotional segments, it’s reserved, letting you soak in the story. When fights get bigger and badder, the music reflects. The music and it’s placement is also fantastic. There’s a lot of particle effects, bloom, and general flairs to make the game look as striking as possible. I mentioned how the enemies can die in gruesome ways, it’s all animated excellently.
The enemies and environments are full of detail. The spritework is phenomenal, the game looks great period.
Complete 80’s inspiration, but not in the way people who just know about it from a skin deep level. Narita Boy’s atmosphere, it’s look, it’s music, is all top of the line. There’s a grand lot of enemies too, by the time you’ll get bored fighting certain ones, more will just pop up. Enemies pop, fall apart, and all of it just feels good when fights get as intense as they do. The combat is real satisfying, something games with a heavy focus on action require. With the power obtained by legends of each of the three colored parts of the world, you can get Wildfire, enhancing your strength and allowing you to just slice right through those stronger enemies. Jumping slices, an armor piercing stab, a downward rolling slash.Ĭertain enemies have a colored flame to them, a powered up version of them. You only have standard combos, but the further and further you get into the game you get more and more moves to spice up your attacks. Your blade, also your gun act as your defense and offense. Not only is Narita Boy a bit of an adventure, it also has a decent combat system. With those out of the way, lets discuss the good parts. It also doesn’t help that the floppies you grab, which act as the keys to get to new areas can look samey, despite their own unique color schemes. Another flaw in exploration comes with certain interactive parts of the environments do blend in, especially climbable parts of walls. That said, the environments never really blend together, so it’s not a case of being lost in samey rooms. The game is never too open, but not having a map means you can and most likely will walk in circles and not know where to go.
There is also, in this game’s biggest sin, no map. It’s an open, explorative platformer, but it’s rather linear. Narita Boy is kind of a difficult game to properly nail down what it is. You’ll go into vast areas, cities, fields, the sea, and of course, the creator’s memories. In Narita Boy, you play as a young gamer sucked into the game Nartia Boy, tasked with stopping HIM from deleting the creator’s memories.