Kyurinaga's Revenge (Xbox One) Review

Seeing as how the platformer genre has been around for over three decades, it seems impossible that newer games could fall short. Unfortunately, Kyurinaga's Revenge is just full of surprises. To start with, the level of difficulty is very uneven. A typical platformer stage starts off easy, but then the traps and enemies accumulate in number, which creates a gradual but steady curve in challenge. The stages in this game are mostly repetitive and boring, punctuated by either jarring difficulty spikes or trial-and-error shenanigans. Dying is more the result of the player not knowing that there's a very particular method for getting past a certain enemy or trap.

For example, near the beginning of the fourth stage, there's a narrow passage that the heroes must wall-jump to ascend. In this same passage is a ghost that flies in an up and down pattern. It will take a few lives to notice that the ghost shifts slightly to the left when it moves downwards. As long as the dynamic duo is sitting on the right side of the passage, they'll survive. These wall-jumps also have to be timed, because otherwise the heroes will slide off the wall and into a pit. That's the hardest part of the stage. Although, there is a section later on that involves pushing a block across retractable spikes, but that's more annoying than anything.

Another reason why the platforming stages are dull is because their pacing is practically glacial. Kaoru and Joe don't have the ability to run, or even a short dash to cover space quickly. Their movement speed never goes beyond "relaxing jog." This also means that all platforms can only be a certain length and height apart. Jumping and double-jumping from platform to platform gets monotonous quickly, especially when there isn't any way to expedite the process. Occasionally the inaction is interrupted by light puzzle solving. Kaoru can use his bombs to blow away weak walls or floors, while Joe can use kunai to hit far away targets. Switching between heroes and using their respective items is easy enough, but not really rewarding. Only three of each item can be held at a time, so there aren't many occasions to use them outside of puzzle solving.

On occasion, Kyurinaga's Revenge goes in a completely different direction. In combat mode, the main characters stand with their backs to one another, ready to face an army. As the fiends approach from both sides, the player switches between heroes and hits various button combinations to fend them off. Anyone who has played games like Kung Fury: Street Rage or One Finger Death Punch will immediately understand how this mode works. The added character switching mechanic is neat, but this mode isn't nearly as polished and tightly designed as it could be. Interestingly enough, this mode is the only time where there are health meters. The ability to take more than one hit during the platforming stages and boss fights probably would have made this game a little more tolerable.

When it comes to video games, boss fights are either the thrilling culmination of all its good qualities, or the disastrous result of all of its bad ones. As mentioned, the heroes can only take one hit. In order to defeat the first boss, which is apparently a massive potato with smash happy hands; the player has to hit it four times. A hit in this case is a boulder, which falls on the boss after a switch is pulled. The switches fall from random locations into a circular arena, so it will take a bit of trotting to reach them. Due to the dodgy hit boxes and random attack pattern, chances are high that players will run out of patience before the boss runs out of hit points. The first boulder falls when one switch is pulled, but then two switches are required for the next one to fall, and so on, and so forth. It's a lot of work that's easily undone, because a single unlucky hit will result in the fight starting all over again. There are less painful methods of torture.