I don’t know how things are where you are, reader, but over here it looks like we may all be spending a whole lot more alone time indoors. Luckily, we’ve got games like Underhero to keep us company!
Underhero
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Publisher: Digerati
From the press release:
Underhero is a 2D side-scroller RPG adventure game with timing-based combat. It tells an intriguing and mysterious story, full of silly characters brimming with personality, quirky dialogue, and lots of weird humour.
Inspired by Paper Mario games and RPGs in general, it tells the story of a world where the chosen hero has failed and an underling of the main villain takes his place as the new “hero”. Join Elizabeth IV and a little Masked kid in a journey across the Chestnut Kingdom to once again, defeat the evil Mr. Stitches! Meet friends, foes and other weird characters in the mysterious world of Underhero.
Pretty cool, right? I got to spend some time with the game recently so I can answer my rhetorical question with an enthusiastic “yes.” I will freely admit that I am a sucker for the side-scroller retro aesthetic that’s come back into vogue in video games in recent years but what really struck me about Underhero is that it’s actually good. The technology to make a game that looks like it came out of the NES or SNES era is so readily accessible these days that games with a retro look have become an entire sub-genre unto themselves… but very few of them are actually good.
The Nintendo Switch eShop is absolutely filthy with shovelware (and no user scores by which to judge them) so finding an absolute gem like Underhero feels like winning the lottery. This is a game that I would have gone bonkers for in grade school or junior high. It’s a ton of fun, the dialog is funny, and there’s some really tight platforming action in the game. There’s also so much to DO in the game since I did a ton of exploring before even starting the first level.
If you’re a retro game enthusiast or if you’re just looking for a really solid platformer you HAVE to check out Underhero.
