Ultra Goodness 2 Switch Review – A True Test of Good Versus Evil… 2
Ultra Goodness 2 is the sequel to Ultra Goodness, just so you know. The twin-stick arcade shooter from Rasul Mono and Ratalaika Games is a fun romp, but it does provide quite the challenge. The indie title arrived on the Nintendo Switch earlier this year, and I finally got my hands on it for the indie game review!
So does Ultra Goodness 2 live up to its name? I mean, is it ultra goodness? Or is it something less than? Let’s dive in!
The story of Ultra Goodness 2 is a beyond simple one. Basically, evil has returned, and good needs to stand up to evil! Apparently some bloke in a crown, sitting in a dungeon of sorts watching television is the good the world needs to eradicate the evil!
Yeah. I know. It is not the deepest story, as it is just the age old “good versus evil” situation, but this game somehow gives us less than we probably need. Where did the evil come from? What is behind the evil? Why is our protagonist good? Are they actually good? And am I thinking too much about this? Okay. That last question is a yes, but you get my point.
Ultra Goodness 2 is a top-down, twin-stick shooter similar to something like The Binding of Isaac, except this is a game that has actual levels instead of any roguelike gameplay. That means there are proper stages where you need to kill all of the evil beings before you can go to the exit and move on to the next stage. This makes the experience a lot more straight-forward, meaning once you beat it all, you are pretty much done with it. Unfortunately, with only 30 levels total, it is not a very long game, either.
The gameplay is rather lackluster, though, as each stage does not really offer a whole lot outside of “move a little bit, kill some enemies, move a little more, kill more enemies, etc” until you kill them all and are able to head to the exit. It is a bit challenging at first, but since the levels barely change, the experience loses traction after a while.
The main character is equipped with a companion cat, which is awesome, as it gives you two streams of bullets instead of the one, and thankfully the cat is invincible and there’s no way you can lose it in gameplay. You can even customize the cat to a degree! The main character also has bombs at his disposal, and powerups are dropped by enemies all of the time, with some benefiting you tremendously and others potentially causing you a lot of trouble.
Combat has its moments, and the enemy blood splatter that paints the arenas after your carnage is a nice little touch. Although enemies are quite mixed throughout, something about the flow of it all feels like you are just doing the same thing over and over again. Well, at least until you get to a boss, which there are only a couple.
The bosses in Ultra Goodness 2 are decent fun and provide a good challenge for those looking for it, but this is in the minority. Sadly, you will be spending most of your time searching around big levels looking for enemies you missed (Like ones hiding behind bushes that are not visible on screen at all).
The main mechanic, I guess, is the time-motion ability, but I rarely found myself using this, as it made levels take even longer due to slowing everything down. I appreciate the mechanic to a certain degree, as it can be helpful when being overwhelmed with enemies, but the longer you play the game, the less interesting things become. So when you slow down that experience at all, it just makes things even more frustrating.
The music is pretty good, but it does lack variety and gets repetitive quickly. I did very much enjoy it in the early moments of my time playing Ultra Goodness 2, but that dissipated over the first hour and became more of an annoyance. Graphically, the game looks rather nice and has a old flash animation look about it that gives it a fresh look. It is bright and colorful and definitely pops the eyes the whole way through.
Ultra Goodness 2 is a decent romp for a little bit, but it does get repetitive and does not last long. The companion cat is my favorite part, by far and large, and the more you dress it up, the better it gets. But that’s where the positives end, because Ultra Goodness 2 does not really offer a whole lot more than just being a quick game to play before getting annoyed with it and moving on to something better.
There is definitely an audience out there for this one, and it is definitely at a price that is beyond reasonable. However, if you are looking for a quality experience that is going to provide solid gaming entertainment, then you have to look elsewhere, because this is not the game to fulfill that need.
Ultra Goodness 2 Review provided by Nintendo Link
Review also found on OpenCritic
Publisher: Ratalaika Games
Developer: Rasul Mono
Release Date: February 12th, 2021
Price: $4.99, £4.99
Game Size: 203 MB
Companion cat is awesome!
Graphics look really nice
Gameplay drags after the first 10 levels
Levels lack variety and are repetitive
Really short experience (Only 30 levels)
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