Game Review #088: Super Treasure Arena (Nintendo Switch)
Reviewer: Frankie W.
Developer: Headup Games
Publisher: Headup Games
Category: Action, Arcade, Multiplayer, Party
Release Date: 12.24.2018
Price (at time of review): $9.99
Buy Super Treasure Arena from the Nintendo eShop here.
Who Needs Enemies When You Have Friends?
Super Treasure Arena is a game best enjoyed with four friends and maybe a few drinks. This will have you standing from your seat and cursing your friends as you battle your way to having the most coins in this action packed 4-player party game! Super Treasure Arena features five different playable character classes that all have their own abilities, as well as a bunch of different kinds of weapon power-ups for you to use with twin-stick shooter controls to fight computer-controlled monsters, and loot treasure boxes in order to get the highest coin total at the end of the time limit. The kicker? It's not just the monsters you have to worry about; there is nothing cooperative about this game. Your friends will become your enemies for the sake of glory on the battlefield, and that is where this relatively simple formula turns into great fun!
Watch Your Meters!
You start your matches as your chosen class and have your basic melee weapon with which to start fighting monsters. You move with the left stick and choose a direction to attack with the right stick. You can also jump with the B button and activate your special class ability with the Y button when your gauge is full. You actually attack with ZR, and you can shield with ZL to take less damage. In addition, you can scroll through your different power-ups with L and R—you get these as pickups on the stage and they have limited ammo. There are all kinds of fun weapons to use beyond your melee weapon, from a bow and arrow that fires super rapidly, a shotgun, bombs, and of course, the crux of this loadout, the bomb arrow!
All of these weapons behave differently and are lost upon death, so you will do yourself a favor to learn how each of these weapons behave, because this game gets CRAZY intense sometimes! It is easy to find yourself getting killed and losing a ton of coins because you didn’t watch your ammo counter, or more importantly, your stamina meter! Each attack you execute will deplete a small gauge over your character, and when it has fully gone down, your player character will slow down CONSIDERABLY and be unable to attack; and if you are around any players when this happens, well buddy I have bad news for you, and it involves you with MUCH less coins than you had before!
Roll That Beautiful Pixel Footage!
These matches take place on six gorgeous levels, all with pixelated personality, from forests to caves and then some. Your battle grounds all feature unique enemies, visuals, and maybe even some traps to work on to infuriate your friends! All of the graphics in this game are pretty retro-style pixel graphics, and it looks great! This game has a pretty simple formula: Spawn, find a better weapon, kill what is in-between you and them, and then hopping about taking pot shots at your friends while you watch your own back—and make sure you are picking up as many coins as you can get your grubby little hands on!
With friends, it really becomes a ton of fun as a party game. I regularly host game nights, and my friends especially love these nights now, because I always have crazy new games to try out, and this one was a hit when I unveiled it without announcing that I had a new game for us to all play. We had a really fun few hours just playing on and off, all while yelling at each other for deaths and betrayal. This game also features another game mode that functions more like a capture the flag game type, where treasure chests spawn and you are tasked with bringing them back to your home base in order to score a point! It feels a little more like an afterthought, but it is still a lot of fun!
Wrapping Up
Super Treasure Arena is a fun but simple little party game! It is certain to entertain a group for a few hours and get some replays at future parties. Headup Games did a great job with this one, and it makes for a super fun and unique experience. From swords and sorceries, to twin-stick shooting shotguns, this game is sure to appeal to a wide audience, earning it a super solid 7/10!
Final Score: 7/10
Buy Super Treasure Arena from the Nintendo eShop here.
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*Review Code Provided By Headup Games