Super Roboyis a passion project by solo developer Vincent Penning. Using his artistic talents as a tattoo artist and programming skills learned alongside his late father, Penning decided to pay tribute to his forebear by creating a video game that he felt they’d enjoy making together. This led to him taking hisindie gameto Kickstarter to help earn additional funds, playtesters, and feedback to create the final product that fans can now try out for themselves. All of these elements combined createSuper Roboy, a hand-drawn Metroidvania adventure that sees the titular android character making his way through a desolate world searching for his lost memories and father.
Right off the bat,Super Roboymakes itself home in several niche areas - as a Kickstarter-funded title, an indie game, a solo developer venture, a 2D-drawn experience, andas a Metroidvania. These facets of Penning’s debut game make it rather unique on its own, and it impresses in some areas while leaving a bit more to be desired in others.Super Roboydelivers on its premise of inviting players into an experience where fans can explore and fight bad guys that would belong in the pages of a comic book in a satisfying way. However, growing pains from the attempt to offer an open world with a skill system all its own might make or break the enjoymentSuper Roboyoffers fans who jump into the title without guides or previous experience playingSuper Metroid.
Super Roboy Excels at All the Things that Fans Will Pick Up the Game For
Metroidvanias have arguably grown to stand on their ownoutside the platformer genre, but players still explore similar titles expecting tight controls, movement systems, and intense combat. On the surface, it might be easy to mistakeSuper Roboyfor a cute introductory title to the sub-genre, but it’s built almost exclusively for those who adore the genre and are looking for something new yet nostalgic. It certainly opens up simplistically, with an AI guardian named Virgil telling Roboy that his memories have been wiped and that they need to find his father. From there, Virgil serves to mark important points on Roboy’s map, but beyond that, it’s completely up to the player to find their way, and their upgrades.
The exploration inSuper Roboystarts off this way, and it’s easy enough to understand as players jump and shoot around platforms and enemies as expected, but soon enough, they discover their first crystals and get told their first few skills are available. Instead of offering power-ups scattered around the mapas expected in games likeMetroid,Super Roboyreplaces them with the Enemy Skill system that requires beating specific numbers of enemies and collectible crystals to unlock. At first, this doesn’t hinder players much as enemies are plentiful and green crystals (at least) aren’t hard to come by, along with many of the first few skills serving as optional upgrades.
Players are given ample time to learn and understand whatSuper Roboyis about in the very first area, which is only heightened by how marvelous the game feels to control. Jumping, shooting, sliding, and rolling are incredibly responsive, which makes using these abilities a delight and their upgrades ultimately satisfying once discovered. This goes well with the exploration and platformingSuper Roboyoffers, which is one of the more freeing and player-driven adventures out there. But that serves as both a blessing and a curse in terms of the game at large. Once players finish the tutorial, hardly anything to do next is made clear, which might leave them confused.
The Innovation in Super Roboy Might Hinder More Than it Excites
It could be argued that the best video games find a line between telling and showing. Metroidvanias in particular have always been known to allow players to figure things out as they go. Still,SuperRoboyends up shooting itself in the foot with its Enemy Skill system. When it comes to unlocking stat buffs and weak points for specific enemy types, the Enemy Skill system works great, but a problem arises regarding necessary upgrades being locked within the same system. Moves such as a double jump, wall jump, and underwater abilities are locked behind specific numbers of enemies and bosses, with some necessary bad guys only being found in one challenge room among four different areas. Just wanting to explore and missing one room out of the entire maze can easily keep players from finding the one ability they need to progress with only vague guidance and no proper hints on how to get it.
On top of that, theapplication of a more open-ended Metroidvania has been done before, and it seems thatSuper Roboystill demonstrates how there is more work to be done to blend both features. Four areas being almost completely available from the very beginning with no proper direction which Enemy Skill is a necessary upgrade or not can lead people to find secret passages far too early. This problem may get easier over time as fans get used to it, but the way all the skills are poorly organized and managed might lead to needless frustration searching for missing enemies to unlock missing skills against a map that only shows players half of what they need to see.
Many ofSuper Roboy’s changes to the formula feel like they work great on paper, but not so well in practice. Important skills almost demand to be made into regular unlocks instead of being hidden behind basic enemies, and making the important Floater collectibles invisible on the map without a skill while locking the rarest crystals behind them feels more like an annoyance than a reward. Some Floaters needed for yellow crystals are even locked behind optional side quests, which makes the hunt for yellow crystals troublesome in the long run. Even with necessary skills being locked behind unpredictable requirements and collectibles being confusingly kept within arms reach at times, the movement system and how great the basics ofSuper Roboyfeel will keep players moving just to bounce around the world and see what’s around them. I managed to find the solution to puzzles that kept me from progressing just by testing a hunch or two to see what sticks, but that shouldn’t be the answer to every roadblock inSuper Roboy. Especially not when players are left to figure out key information, such as the Bounce skill allowing players to jump on deadly bombs, that isn’t explained outright.
Just a few helpful changes could avoid some needless running around, such as marking boss rooms on the map, but also, more conversations with Virgil and Roboy that have substance would have worked great to offer more guidance than just a few notes scattered around the map. In terms of the story, it’s certainly not one of the draws toSuper Roboy, as the characters hardly get a chance to interact throughout the adventure. WhileSuper Roboytries to set up a world that aims totake cues fromHollow Knight’s Hallownestthrough letters and journal entries, it fails to capture the same intrigue and charm.
Super Roboy is a Metroidvania Purely for a Love for the Genre
It’s not at all a bad thing thatSuper Roboyzooms in on its exploration, movement, and combat mechanics, however. In fact, these aspects are entirely where this indie game shines. Even aimless exploration rewards players for beating repeated enemies with Essence, which helps level up Roboy to take on bosses and later enemies with ease. The Skill system even manages to impress with the inclusion of four elemental upgrades and status ailments that add depth to what might have been an otherwise basic combat system.Super Roboyeven takes notes froma number of roleplaying gamesto add a bestiary of enemies, where players can see enemy weaknesses in a simple yet disorganized menu.
The elemental weapons and status ailments end up being incredibly prominent againstSuper Roboy’s bosses, where the right combination can make quick work of challenging bosses in a satisfying way. It felt great to struggle against the Mutant King Minos at first, but once I used some excess crystals to upgrade my bio resistance and inflict poison against him, as well as keep his attack pattern in mind, he didn’t take much effort. These skills will certainly matter the at higher difficulties, though, as hard mode makes health particles scarce and increases health bars significantly compared to the other two settings. The penultimate part of the game - once players reach the Power Plant - pulls no punches and will certainly test players on all difficulties, makingSuper Roboysurprisingly challenging to see to the end.
Breaking the Mold Isn’t Required for Super Roboy to Be a Worthwhile Metroidvania
Video game design is similar to many other mediums in that during the journey it takes to create something, usually one core value has to stick out as its message and purpose. When it comes toSuper Roboy, its main purpose was to be a hand-drawn Metroidvania experience, and in that regard, it certainly hits its mark. The movement system makes exploring incredibly fun even in times when the goal might not be clear, bosses are challenging with patterns that take detailed observation to master, and almost every area has collectibles to revisit with unlocked upgrades. This is only heightened by the adorable and charming art style that persists throughoutSuper Roboy, with sprite animations and some well-crafted backgrounds that hold plenty of surprises.Super Roboymay have flaws, but it also shows some impressive potential for other 2D animated games from the same developer.
Super Roboyis a fine and simple Metroidvania for its target audience of genre fanatics, even though it might be hard to recommend fornewcomers to the platformer sub-genre. Those who have already made their way through Hallownest or even made their way through aMega Mangame will easily find themselves at home during the game’s short yet challenging run time.Super Roboydelivers on its promises in a way that’s unique to itself, and that makes it worth exploring.
WHERE TO PLAY
Super Roboyis available now for PC. Game Rant received a PC code for this review.
