In the words of the late Satoru Iwata - "Above all, video games are meant to just be one thing: Fun for everyone". Runbow embraces this philosophy and runs away with it. The result is a game that is simple in concept and execution, yet it radiates personality from every shade of its palette. In short, Runbow is easily one of the best Wii U games of 2015, one with which you shouldn't think twice about calling your friends over to have a great time.
Developed by the Toronto-based 13AM Games, Runbow doesn't hesitate to let the player know they're in for a treat. It's a game unlike any other, and the loading screen embraces its unique charm as a rainbow of colours oozes out of the screen and the speakers of the TV.
Runbow in the most basic of forms is a platformer; the objective is to simply get to the goal by jumping on platforms and overcome chasms and obstacles - yet not everything can be that simple. As any other game in the genre, the levels in Runbow boast an array of different platforms - usually they range from black to all the colours of the rainbow. The catch here is that the background colour will change periodically, and when the colour of the platform matches the background it will instantly disappear.
The colour mechanic isn't the sole gimmick that keeps the game fresh, as Runbow offers something that no other Wii U title has ever put in the table. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U had 8-player Smash, so Runbow has gone ahead and added one more player to the mix. Unlike in Smash where the 8-player mode was limited to a handful of maps and a single game mode, in Runbow every single level supports the 9-player multiplayer, be it competitive or cooperative.
On the multiplayer front there are four different modes, and here's where the game shines the most. To makes things better (or worse) there's an array of power ups in every multiplayer mode that serve no other purpose than to sabotage the progress of your friends/enemies.
Run is the easiest one to pick up and play. The goal is simple, to reach the end of the level while competing against the other players. The Arena is the survival of the fittest. Using the attack button players can and are encouraged to punch, uppercut, dash or butt stomp their rivals players into oblivion (or the lava pit at the bottom of the screen) to become the last man standing. King of the Hill is pretty much the standard mode where a player has to control an area of the map of the game for a certain amount of time. The difference between this mode and the rest is that players re-spawn constantly until someone conquers the hill. ColourMaster is easily the funniest mode in the game. The players holding the controllers compete against the player with the GamePad, who plays the role of the ColourMaster, a wicked wizard that can shock the players, drop bombs and even switch the background colours at will.
Even if you don't have eight friends available to play with you at any given moment, you can always jump to the online lobbies and seek out players to shove into a lava pool or a bottomless pit.
And while Runbow is a great party game, it still has enough content for those who may want a less hectic experience by offering two different single player modes.
Adventure mode serves the purpose of being the main feature of the game. The premise is simple - complete the objective, whether it be reach the goal, collect a certain amount of coins or defeat a set number of enemies. Each challenge comes with a set amount of medals that can be collected based on the player's performance; the faster the challenge is cleared the higher the number of medals. In addition of serving as bragging rights, the medals also unlock a gargantuan amount of concept art, costumes and characters.
The player's skill and patience will be tested in the 140-plus levels spread across four different themes, each one with unique challenges, such as running away from a prison full of deadly lasers or surviving a tropical paradise in turmoil.
The Bowhemoth, on the other hand, is a whole different beast. The most challenging mode of the game, takes place inside the belly of a gargantuan beast and asks the players to beat a unique selection of challenges in a single run. It evokes memories of the NES era, as there are no save points and the difficulty level has been set to eleven; a single run can take from 30 minutes to a little more than two hours, depending on the skill and patience of the player.
What sets the Bowhemoth apart isn't the difficulty, but the presentation of the mode. Levels are modelled to give that grotesque feeling of being inside a monster, and the sound design is nothing short of exemplary.
Of course, the excellent art and sound direction isn't exclusive to the Bowhemoth mode. Inspired by Saul Bass and the Czechoslovakian New Wave the art style of Runbow is simple enough to be able to sustain the chaos of the multiplayer, yet endearing enough to keep the players glued to the screen when playing solo modes such as the Bowhemoth. It's colourful, fun to look and a pleasure to the eyes (as long as you're not colourblind).
The same can be said about the music composed by Dan Rodrigues and directed by Dave Proctor; together they created a vivid musical experience that reflects the light-hearted nature of Runbow. Jazz, Swing, Rockabilly and even Horror - no genre is safe in the hands of these two musicians. Swaying saxophones, enchanting trumpets and the ever beating drums adorn the levels and keep the players in sync to the what's happening on the TV screen.
The cherry on top of the cake is the collaboration between 13AM Games and the rest of the Nindies titles on the Wii U eShop. A colourful crossover of characters ranging from Shovel Knight to Scram Kitty via Chariot can be chosen as alternate skins of the protagonists of the game. Sadly they don't bring their trademark abilities or animations, but their presence is a welcome one, giving Runbow the unofficial title of the Indie Smash Bros.
Conclusion
As mentioned in the opening, Runbow is easily one of the best games that has graced the Wii U; it's a game that is very Nintendo in every single aspect, from concept to art and sound direction, to the point that Nintendo itself has taken the liberty to celebrate a launch party for Runbow at the Nintendo World Store in NYC. It's an excellent party game with a solid single player campaign and more unlockables than the colours of the rainbow; you won't regret paying the admission for this gem on the Wii U.
Comments 60
Let me know if you have any concerns/questions regarding the game and/or the review, I will do my best to address them ^^
So excited for this game. Do hope it's next week EU.
Day 1 purchase for me!
Wow, I was interested but now I'm fully sold.
Just tell me where to sign! (er... preorder)
What are the controller options are supported in this game to get it to 8 players? wii mote, pro controllers, game cube adapter support might be nice (since I have that)?
I really want this game, but I can't get it Day 1. Damn!
Colour blind but I am still getting this.
@JoseAcosta
Any word about the price?
Ok, now what I need is a launch date for europe.
Definitely gonna pick this up tomorrow, had a lot of fun with the demo.
@Wuneye the game supports Wii remote plus attachments (including Nunchucks), Wii U pro controllers and the gamepad, sadly the GCN controller is not supported.
@sinalefa $14.99 for the US eShop. No word on the Canadian, European/UK prices yet.
@JoseAcosta Thank you!
Hm...looks like I'm getting this!...I need more money.
I liked this in Nindies@home, but my only concern is I won't be able to play with others enough to really enjoy it. There are some games my brothers will play with me no question like Smash and Mario Kart, but they might not like this one and then I'll be left with no one to play with. A conundrum indeed.
@JoseAcosta
Thanks, gladly I replenished my funds a few days ago to get Never Alone so I can buy this tomorrow.
I won't lie. My first impressions for this game went from good fun to instant buy, and even better that those who have the Preview Version of it can get the discount for it. I am one of those people and I am sure to dip in to it Day One
@JoseAcosta Thanks for the pricing info. Maybe you want to edit in a sentence at the end - "Don't forget, if you DL'd the demo during E3 you get 15% off the price."
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/06/nindiesathome_e3_promotion_offers_wii_u_eshop_demos_with_15_percent_off_the_final_game
@JaxonH You want to pre-order a DL only indie game that comes out tomorrow? I think you've been doing too much amiibo shopping.
@Captain_Gonru What do you mean "again"? They took down the demo? Who takes down a demo? I can see them taking the 15% promo discount away, just assumed all the demos would still be available.
This may be Day 1 for us tomorrow. Last time we played the demo it froze the Wii U solid so never went back to it - I like my Wii U unfrozen - but it was fun for the family. Just bought a new Wiimote Plus last week too. hmm
Europe when?
SOunds like an amazing game and I hope people pick it up.
@sinalefa They have a colour-blind mode as well.
@Xilef Some time in September.
Cannot wait for this.
@Inkling
Never had any issues with the demo, but if this has colour blind mode, then it automatically gets my support. So few developers care about us.
@sinalefa I'm not entirely sure, but I think they revealed it during the Nintendo Treehouse.
I really wish i could get the 15% off the indie games that had the E3 demo......sadly I took a family vacation then so I guess no discount.
This looks like a game that would be a ton of fun though when the house is full of people. May have to download it tomorrow
im happy to see it get that rating, i well HOPEFULLY (i may not) get it next month
Day one for me, I already bought a digital copy of the soundtrack.
It supports online multiplayer?
Awesome.
I like the roster of indie characters, which in turn make the standard characters sorta useless once you unlock them...
BTW, whats the price of this?
I got to try out an early build of Runbow at an indie con in 2014 and was totally captivated by it. Since then I've been patiently waiting for some word, ANY word, of it's release date. The fact that the first word we get is "it'll be out later next week" just has me so stoked. =)
Is there online play?
@scubydo Yup.
It's surprising to see this being so well received. I played the Nindie demo version, but it just didn't click with me and didn't enjoy the gameplay. Oh well, it's impossible to like every game.
@crimsontadpoles Same here. It was kinda boring for me. I wouldn't mind playing/buying it if I had plenty of people to play with (offline or online) but I don't, so I'll pass.
@JoseAcosta Has there been an announcement of the price for those of us who played the E3 nindies demo?
"Once the full games launch, players get 15 percent off the price of each respective participating game they demo for up to one month after the full game launches. Note that the same Nintendo Network ID must be linked to the Wii U system and Nintendo eShop account prior to the download in order to be eligible for the offer."
That was what they said when they launched the promo, but as far as I know, they haven't announced any updates.
@Inkling Thanks!
@crimsontadpoles I agree. i didn't like the demo at all. the controls just didn't click with me at all, granted I only gave it 15 min or so, but I really didn't enjoy it at all.
I need friends :
Glad I've been working overtime since I graduated. I'll be downloading this one for sure!
@JoseAcosta My research has come up with $15.99 CAD. Plus for the first month gamers that downloaded the demo earlier in the summer get a 15% discount.
@dariusq Aww thanks for the update on the Canadian price. All we need now is a date for Europe and the price
@EllenJMiller that makes two of us! Favorite track?
@rjejr I totally forgot about the Nindies promo, to be honest I remember it existed but I couldn't download any of the games since I was at E3. Thanks for the info, will try to update the review!
Great! I saw some gameplay footage of the full game (having briefly played the promo demo), and it's a game where everything seems to be done right. And all currently available reviews praise the game. Looking forward to the European release!
I love colrfull great games, so this is something for me!
day one purchase when it arrive in my homeland.
And it arrives to Europe a year from now on I guess. I hope that's not true and instead they release it next week.
Guess I'll have to add a little more money to eShop. Between this and the original Sin and Punishment, I'm going to fall a little short.
Those graphics are incredibly ugly.
@JoseAcosta I've got a soft spot for 'Mamma Loves Runbow', it reminds me of bright and vibrant SEGA games from my childhood and teen years.
@JoseAcosta "games since I was at E3"
Well if you were at E3 I can see why you would have missed it, a lot to get distracted by over there. TW did mention it in the weekly update this morning so that's probably enough, didn't think he would put that in there having to cover the entire update for both systems and it was fairly big too.
@JoseAcosta Did you ever experience framerate issues while playing? I just downloaded it and I've been seeing a lot already.
@Shepdawg1 I did and tried to recreate it but it never happened again, although I remember reading in another review that they had performance issues, but I can't recall where it was.
I should mention that there some frames dropped while playing online with the guys at 13AM Games, but it was probably my connection.
@JoseAcosta That's strange. The thing is that I've been experiencing it in even the single player campaign, the times where you would least expect performance issues with this game. I can understand frames being dropped in online matches, but for local play, it just doesn't make much sense to me.
@Shepdawg1 yes, I'm getting frame drops in every level during 1P, and it's badly marring the gameplay. (There was also an update a little while ago, but if it was meant to correct this, it didn't.)
EDIT: moved it to internal storage and the frame drops and skips are gone.
I bought this game last night primarily on the strength of this review. Didn't get to play long, and only did a few of the single-player challenges, but I love how the game talks smack to you when you lose. Kind of makes you feel like even when you're playing alone, you're playing with someone else. I'm also relatively green in the "Nindie" scene, but it won me over with the last epic indie sale (picked up Guacamelee, Cube, and the latest BIT.TRIP). I love how Nintendo is cultivating its own, unique indie scene, and that now there's this, which is like an Indie Smash Bros. full of those characters. It makes me want to try out those characters' games, kind of like how Smash makes me want to play those characters' games.
Anyway, just wanted to preach like a converted Nindie fan. These games are really great.
@ECM That's an interesting discovery! I probably never had any issues because I made sure to have enough space in the Wii U internal storage. It still shouldn't happen though, every game should be able to run without any issues on either storage unit.
@Shepdawg1 Move the game to internal storage. It appears to be a bug with the game streaming from an external drive.
Well, that's a high score! I played the demo. It wasn't bad persee, but it was not super either. The only unique aspect seemed to be the background changing color (and platforms appearing and disappearing as a result).
Anyone else having this game almost freeze at times? It's like it skips showing like 10 or so frames, which in a game like this can be deadly. It's frustrating when you are playing through a level and aren't sure if you made a jump because the game almost locks up and then recovers around 3-5 seconds later. Aside from that this game is incredible, but it's a bug that should definitely be fixed.
I am liking this game so far, but the frequent load times get annoying. I mean they are fairly short, but having one very 5 seconds gets on my nerves.
Im a bit disappointed tbh
the game sure is great - design/sound/gameplay all awesome
havent tried out multiplayer yet but im sure it rocks too
BUT
frequent (minor) slow downs/hiccups and the loading times (though short but very frequent) are HUGELY annoying - at least to me
the games pure fun, flashy and makes you smile all throughout because of its humor and design, but as long as they dont fix those issues (when???) its rather a 8/10
sorry
still love this game though ^^
Got this from the Humble Bundle sale a few months back, it's an amazing game! Plus the devs are pretty chill and I'm glad they're doing a N3DS version later this year!
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