ANTONBLAST Review

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Fast Facts

Blasting Off Again

ANTONBLAST is a fast-paced frantic platformer featuring Anton from Antonball Deluxe. The game features a zany storyline yet primarily focuses on platforming around novel areas with unique upgrades. Did ANTONBLAST shake me to my core? Find out in this Rapid Review.

To begin my journey, I met Anton, Annie, and Satan. A brief cutscene plays detailing the premise, which was fun. This cutscene is funny, nicely animated, and provides a lot of character, as each character is very expressive. It was an excellent introduction to ANTONBLAST. While most of the story content ends there, throughout my playthrough, I enjoyed brief moments where the main characters or enemies would react to something happening. These sections were great. They never overstayed their welcome and hardly impacted the pace of the game. Still, they added charm to the wacky world I explored. While not a substantial story, the elements included were excellent. 

While I enjoyed the story, the core focus of ANTONBLAST is the gameplay. It has a lot to offer here too. My main character’s move set features a wide variety of different techniques. Plus, I found myself facing a diverse roster of foes in a bunch of wacky environments.

Diving Into It

As for movement abilities, Anton comes equipped with traditional lateral movement, a jump, a dash move, and a massive hammer which he can use to damage enemies and bounce off the ground. Learning these different skills was simple. However, one thing I enjoyed a lot about the movement in ANTONBLAST was how much control I had. I could dash almost instantly, and my dash could take out most enemies, which enabled me to navigate quickly through stages. ANTONBLAST features abilities which are fun to learn yet provide ways for me to express myself, and play at my own pace. 

However, even though the powers at my disposal were very powerful, I never felt that the game was not providing enough challenge. Stages are filled with different hazards and unique things to do. While some segments were not overly challenging, the unique areas and things I got to mess around with kept me stimulated. At the same time, some segments were challenging. Sometimes new enemies posed threats whereas other times, level layouts featured tricky traps to maneuver around. To compensate for this, ANTONBLAST features a generous number of checkpoints. The game does a great job integrating both rewarding challenges and interesting new concepts.

Dropping the Hammer

The enemies themselves are also fun to demolish. Since I have so much control over my movement, a lot of the enemies could be easily defeated. However, they were still fun to take out. Other times, enemies had unique weak points or could counter a head-on assault. Those enemies were also designed very nicely. Mainly, I enjoyed that even though these enemies required counterplay, they did not force me to slow down much. I had another ability where I could attack enemies low to the ground which would get around some of the counterplay. The enemies in ANTONBLAST were both fun to dismantle and rewarding since they encourage strategy yet do not force slow gameplay. 

In addition to traditional enemies, ANTONBLAST features boss fights. As much as I enjoyed going through the traditional levels, somehow, the bosses were even better. These fights were excellent. Each one was unique, doing things that made sense both mechanically and thematically. I particularly enjoyed how each boss could be damaged throughout the majority of the fight. As with most parts of the game, the boss fights enabled me to leverage my toolset, work at my own pace, and develop technically. I also want to emphasize that the bosses in ANTONBLAST were not just unique within the game. These fights feature tons of unique ways to not only be damaged but also to damage the bosses. They were a highlight of the game for sure. 

You Wanted More?

In addition to the main gameplay loop featured above, ANTONBLAST has hidden items within each map. Some of these are somewhat straightforward, but I missed a lot of them during my playthrough. These items provide some added value to revisiting stages. Some of these items do things too. I could find alternate colour palettes, which changed my characters quite significantly as well as cassette tapes which unlocked music for me to listen to in the lobby. 

Moreover, there are also time trial and high score chasing modes which could add further replay value for people looking to truly master their skills. While I have not spent much time in these areas, ANTONBLAST certainly features a main character and world worthy of mastery, so I can see myself coming back in the future to optimize some levels for fun. Simply. ANTONBLAST has a lot of content.

To further supplement the game, the music and visual designs were both lovely. The music was frantic, yet engaging and catchy. It encapsulated the game’s style, which was nice to see. The visual designs were standout. From the wild colour varieties to the animation seen during the cutscenes, looking at ANTONBLAST is truly a treat. This carries over into the minute-to-minute gameplay too, as level visuals are nearly just as stunning.

Literally Readest All

Overall, I can easily recommend ANTONBLAST. It is a fun frantic platformer with a complex yet rewarding move set and a vast expanse of locales to explore. Enemies are cool, bosses are better, and the experience as a whole comes wrapped in a juicy campaign with thoughtfully animated characters. If the game sounds even remotely interesting, I strongly recommend that you check it out. 

5 out of 5

5

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