Today we are going to take a look at Narita Boy. This retro-stylized platformer metroidvania set inside the world of computers promises to stun you with its gorgeous pixelart, awesome combat with dangerous bosses, and a great soundtrack. Narita Boy is available on Steam for 24 Euros and 99 cents or your regional equivalent.
With this review you have a choice of either reading it here in text form or listening to the video review. They both contain the same content.
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For some reason, the digital world keeps us stirring up our fantasies. You just see it in your head… a world made from wires, neon lights, ones, and zeroes. All the blinking lights, pixel beings walking around… doesn’t it just sound amazing? Well, it doesn’t matter because no matter how the digital world looks in your head you’ll get to see it for yourselves in Narita Boy.
The world needs a hero. Yes, again. It’s one of the oldest cliches and we’ve all saved the world so many times. But at least, this time it is the digital world. The digital world suffers under an evil program called HIM that wishes to see the digital world destroyed. What will HIM do after it’s destroyed? Who cares, the important part is we found a hero. Narita Boy. At the start he is quite simple, all he can do is run and maybe do a bit of jumping. But at the end of his journey, he will become a merciless killing machine that won’t be scared by any apps.
The story isn’t anything special as you probably already understand. It’s a story we’ve seen a million times before and was just taken into the world of ones and zeroes. But it does have some beauty. Especially the environment that isn’t just scenery but provides plenty of places to ask questions and search for answers. It’s a kind of sci-fi but I just had these little hints of fantasy hidden inside. The weapons, your powers it all seems to come more from fantasy rather than sci-fi. I really like the way these two genres intermingle and it almost makes you feel like Narita Boy is Sir Lancelot and only the round table is much more pixelated.
The most hidden parts of the lore such as its creation and who the creator himself is will come through his memories. These almost spiritual dreams are the only place of respite where you’ll get to take a break from the otherwise never-ending action. But not always will these visits be fun and happy. Nonetheless, these flashbacks will allow you to understand the motive of the creator.
So… that’s the story. What about the action? I’m actually very glad that the part of many metroidvanias where you have to constantly collect items is reduced to a minimum. Instead, you’ll just be searching for keys that look like a floppy disk. Take these to the right door or person and you can progress. But that still means you will do plenty of backtracking but at this point, I think people who play metroidvanias expect that. The only real problem with this lies in the fact that the digital world is one in which you can easily get lost. The locations have names, but they just aren’t distinct enough to easily remember where you’re supposed to go.
Luckily, all this is more than redeemed with the combat. This is one hell of a good combat system. Don’t expect the complexity of Diablo but you will get a great combat system full of combos. Over time, Narita Boy will learn a large set of moves and attacks that you’ll need a cheat sheet to remember them all. And the best thing? The game actually forces you to switch your attack because there are enemies that need a certain attack to be destroyed. For example, there’s a knight with a shield that first needs to have his shield destroyed with a heavy shoulder attack, and only then you can kill him with your sword.
Then, whenever you get overwhelmed and you can’t handle the enemies purely with your sword it is time to use one of your abilities. Shoot a laser beam or burn your enemies with your fire attack. The skills are visually more than stunning and if you use them correctly it’s going to be literally a massacre. But these specials will mostly be used in flights with the bosses. The bosses are the true spice of the game but compared to many other metroidvanias the bosses here are a tiny bit easier. The attacks are a bit easier to read not that cruel and don’t do that much damage. But that can either even be considered a good thing for those who prefer medium difficulty.
The last thing I need to talk about are the eighties. Because Narita Boy truly wants to exist in the eighties. Well, no. It brings them back wherever possible. The environment, the hero, the soundtrack which BTW is great and available separately on Steam and should be bought by you, everything makes you think of the eighties.
Conclusion
So… in conclusion: The style and the combat of Narita Boy are amazing. The adventure part is good too but it does need a little time to draw you into the digital world. So, if you’re on the lookout for a good metroidvania and don’t care that it isn’t the hardest one ever then Narita Boy will certainly be quite fun.
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