Thanks to my Xbox Live Gold Membership I am able to download free games for my Xbox 360 and Xbox One each month. Last month was the start of games for Microsoft’s next-gen console, giving me Halo: Spartan Assault and Max: Curse of Brotherhood. This month, eschewing games with colons in their title, Microsoft has given unto us the super fantistico game – Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition. The title right there tells you the tone of the game.
Guacamelee is a Metroid-style side-scrolling platformer, which in layman’s speech means you travel across the screen fighting bad guys, jumping from platform to platform, and gaining new skills that you can go back to earlier in the game to use and reach previously locked areas. Guacamelee is about a young man who gains a mythical Luchador mask to aid him in his quest to rescue El Presidente’s Daughter. Throughout the game you learn powerful moves, like the Goat Jump, which aid you on your quest and allow you to reach more places in the world.
Platformers are not my favorite genre, so I was reluctant to give this game a try, but it was free so I though why not. Thus far the game has been a lot of fun and not as unforgiving as I remember Metroid on the old Nintendo being. What really makes the game is the humor. It is full of geek and video game references and just plain silliness.
I haven’t gotten far in the game and I’d love to try Co-Op, but I would recommend the game on the game’s humor and writing alone. Its fun to giggle as you play and figuring out how to pass an obstacle is not so frustrating that I want to quit in a rage. I give Guacamelee – Five out of Five Chickens!
