The sheer purity of kuso is almost disconcerting. A simple 2D platformer with no major traversal mechanics besides running and jumping, it's quite a difficult sell to the seasoned platform veteran. You have the ability to drop checkpoints instantly (a little like Ori and the Blind Forest), which means you're likely to see the back of the initial 25-level campaign in roughly 45 minutes. This, we acknowledge, is not a lot of minutes.
They're certainly fun minutes, mind. Each level is an obstacle course of gorgeously designed pixellated complexity, with a constant stream of new and interesting obstacles to navigate. Combat is a complete no-show, it's all about timing, athleticism and pure daring. Each stage will take you up, over and all around as you make your way from start to finish, with no collectable nonsense standing between you and sheer platforming skills. It's incredibly straightforward, with extremely clean visuals. Basic stuff, but designed marvellously, evoking a barren and hostile mechanical aesthetic across its 25 stages. Given the low price, this would already be enough for a pretty good score. But that's far from all you're getting.
Key to kuso's appeal is the myriad additional content available, and the way it's presented. As well as the main kuso campaign, you also get the levels from its predecessor, LOVE (also available separately on Switch, for some reason), as well as a clutch of extra levels from Love+ and its original incarnation. Each stage can be tackled individually from the Level Select, and played in speedrun mode (adding a frame counter to the screen and recording your best times) and YOLO mode, which is what it sounds like – no checkpoints, only one attempt to get to the end. Clearing this grants you medals which ultimately unlock achievements. Selecting these bonus modes, though, can be a tiny bit awkward, with speedrun mode in particular being easy to accidentally snap out of to the wrong level; you'll want to be holding right when you start, after all. A pre-level countdown would solve this small issue.
The achievements are themselves worthy of comment – rather than just the usual "do everything, get every medal" stuff, they're actually interesting challenges that push you to beat levels in different ways, or try new approaches. Some of these can be made easier using the ability to slow down time using the triggers – it's possibly a little too much of a crutch – but your timing will still need to be precise to pull off every condition required of you to achieve 100%.
Played either as a whole package with unlimited lives, or in hard mode with only a few, kuso is as challenging as you want it to be. You can play the kuso and LOVE campaigns separately or joined together as one mega-campaign. Then you'll have all the extra bonus stages and easter eggs to find. Paired with the hypnotic graphics and astonishingly atmospheric soundtrack from James Bennett, kuso is both accessible and difficult, and it's a little gem on the Switch. Well worth your £3.99.
Comments 22
Great review! thanks for the info... only 5$! Probably gonna get
Is the November 2018 release date correct?
Is this review "in case you missed it"?
It looks SUPER bland, but if the platforming alright I’ll pick it up someday.
Ah, seems promising.
Also, I know retro-inspired platformers are a dime a dozen, but outside of maybe VVVVV, not that many go quite that far back in their retro stylings. So it definitely looks distinctive.
Glad to hear a shoutout to the soundtrack; it is indeed awesome and mighty!
Yeah, this game is awesome. Soundtrack is too!
Special shout-out to this part of the review:
"The achievements are themselves worthy of comment – rather than just the usual "do everything, get every medal" stuff, they're actually interesting challenges that push you to beat levels in different ways, or try new approaches."
That reminds me of the wonderful "achievements" in Into the Breach, which force you to beat the game with certain mech types and combinations, truly bringing out the depth of the game's mechanics.
@Beaucine I love achievements like this too, rather than the collect-a-thons most games resort to. I balked when I first played Dark Souls, a game touted for its difficulty, when it gave me an achievement for being given the Estus Flask, a near-unmissable item. I think they should give you an achievement for MISSING the Estus Flask, cause that takes a modicum of know-how!
Also, I see your icon, are you familiar with any of the speedrun categories for Super Metroid? I think stuff like that should be included in achievements. Imagine having to actually work for an achievement, such as the Reveres Boss Order speedrun. Fascinating!
@holygeez03 Could be because the game has been on Steam for a couple years.
@TG16_IS_BAE
Yeah, I think most achievements end up falling into two categories:
A) Inevitable achievements from just playing the game to completion. These almost work like chapter titles or something, because they highlight key sequences or moments in the game. They're technically pointless, but I admit they occasionally add to the drama. (As in Half-Life 2, which I replayed last week.)
B) Random stuff you have to go out of your way to do, which either require insane skill or a lot of free time, and which either way don't highlight the game's mechanics.
So, achievements that push you to actually get better at the game are more than welcome.
As for Super Metroid, yeah, I've heard of the categories and the crazy sequence-breaking, though I've never tried that myself. I agree such exploits should be achievements, too.
And, on a related note, I like it when a game's mechanics are malleable enough that you can break the game, but it feels like the developers almost (aaalmost) want you to do that. (I was looking at Half-Life 2 gravity-gun-only speedruns the other night, and they're absolutely, gob-smackingly insane).
Kuso is certainly a curious choice of name.
Go ahead and put that through Google Translate, and see what you get.
I am by no means a graphics elitist but I have my limits.
@TG16_IS_BAE
Appears to be the eShop release date.
@Apportal_SMM2 Its one of the top platformers of all time in my books and defo on my top 100 games list.
I'm so glad you guys have given this little guy a spotlight! I LOVE this game (pun intended).
Are these the same developers that worked on an old old old school iPhone RPG called Low Lander? Graphics look very similar.
@Beaucine Yes! Exactly why I think to this day Super Metroid is the absolute best Metroid game they ever put out, due to how much sequence breaking and interesting movement mechanics that keep getting discovered, even decades later. My favorite trick is Mock Ball, what's yours?
@TG16_IS_BAE
Ah, there's a lot of cool stuff I've never even tried. I mean, there's the Murder Beam, which can crash your game. But what really fascinates me are all the secret yet "canonical" moves the designers hid there, like Crystal Flash, power jumping, or wall-jumping. They're not explicit skills or maneuvers, but they're there. It makes the whole experience seem mysterious. Like you never know just how much you can do. Also, the fact you don't break the game even when you break the sequence suggests they're tools or exploits meant for expert players, by design. Most videogames wouldn't dare give you that much freedom. And the fact that Super Metroid does, when it boasts one of the most polished linear experiences in gaming history, is astonishing.
By the way, I just got this game on the strength of this review, and it's very, very good thus far.
For those put off by the graphics, a note: it looks way better in motion. It's still low-fi, obviously, but the animation, music, and overall design of the levels make for a pretty immersive audiovisual package. It really works, but static images won't do it justice.
@Beaucine Truly!
@TG16_IS_BAE I definitely agree with both comments regarding sequence breaking and malleable mechanics. It’s like when a game such as Skyrim gives you Fus Ro Dah and sends you out into the world, seeing what you can do with that can be really interesting. Breath of the Wild does that with the slate too, it opens up a wealth of possibilities to get places you really shouldn’t. I’ve currently been getting to grips with a few tricks in Ocarina of Time throughout my current randomiser run. Even simple things like side-hopping off Kak’s tower onto the roof or using the Cucco to clip the Zora fountain feel brilliant in practice, it’s a testament to the gameplay engine that the pursuit of these tricks persists to this very day.
@nessisonett Oh man, randomized runs are so fun! The Dark Souls randomizer is great, makes the game feel like a treasure hunt.
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