After spending most of the last decade being largely forgotten in favour of gritty, story-driven third-person shooters,the recent resurgence of platformers from developers other than Nintendo has been a treat for meand anyone else with good taste.
Since 2020 we’ve had bangers likePsychonauts 2,Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart,Crash 4,Pepper Grinder,Gunbrella,RKGK,Astro Bot, and a laundry list of other greats that show how much life running and jumping still has left.This potential was most encapsulated by 2023’s Pizza Tower, which masterfully brought back the Wario Land formulaNintendohasn’t bothered with since 2008.
Pizza Tower was such a platforming powerhouse that I didn’t think we’d see another game match it for quite some time. What a fool I was.Antonblastnot only features the same frantic Wario Land-esque energy of Peppino’s outings, but for my money it also surpasses it thanks to incredibly satisfying core mechanics, expertly designed levels, and a surprising amount of inspiration fromCrash Bandicoot.
Dynamite Ed Edd n Headdy
Antonblast stars the wonderfully named Dynamite Anton (along with his coworker Annie) and sees him on a quest to rescue his collection of spirits after a caked-up version of Satan targets the titular anti-hero for his ruby-red skin. As is almost always the case with my favourite genre, the story is pure cartoony chaos and mostly serves as a reason to jump around and collect things.
To my surprise, this actually isn’t the first game starring Anton and Annie,as they made their debut in 2021’s Antonball.
Even though the devil’s motives are nothing more than skin-deep, Antonblast still manages to have a ton of character and charm. Its loud, chaotic and in-your-face vibes are basically Ed, Edd n Eddy the video game, an energy that’s matched by the beautifully bold pixel art style that calls back to 90’s cartoons and has similarly jamming tracks. Antonblast is treat for the senses, and that’s before you even get into the real meat, potatoes, and blasting.
Blast is the perfect word for the expertly crafted and wildly inventive platforming. Just like in Wario Land and Pizza Tower, each level starts with Anton making his way through different areas each with their own theme and gimmick before having to rush all the way back to the start on a timer once ‘Happy Hour’ is triggered. Balancing a game that plays well forwards and backwards is a tough ask, but Antonblast delivers because of its immaculately designed stages that let you do what Anton and the best platformers do so well - blaze a trail forward at max speed.
Antonblast is a challenging game in its own right (especially towards the end), but it’s notably less stressful than Pizza Tower due to the lack of level ranks.
Wario Land With A Healthy Helping Of Crash Bandicoot
The typical Wario Land adrenaline rush is as satisfying here as ever (even if Nintendo doesn’t seem to think so), but it’s how satisfying Anton and Annie’s core movesets are that makes Antonblast shine. Anton and Annie’s movement revolves around using a massive hammer and flail to smash through enemies and objects and let them bounce around at high speeds.
Anton also takes a lot of cues from the greatest to ever do it, Crash Bandicoot. There’s the visuals, music, sound effects, and even level gimmicks, with one pinball level taking me straight back to Wrath of Cortex.But most importantly is the game’s core movement mechanic - clutching. Pressing the attack button causes Anton to rush forward which can be further boosted by pressing the button at the right time, exactly like what makesCrash Team Racing undeniably better than Mario Kart.
Mastering the clutch and using it to steer yourself around levels never gets dull and gives Antonblast the edge over similar platformers thanks to how simultaneously enjoyable yet mangeable it makes moving around at top speeds. Antonblast’s base skillset, with its hammer bouncing and boosting forward, is impossible to get bored of, but it’s made even better by how unique and memorable each of the 19 stages are.
The only stage that I didn’t love in the whole game is a greenhouse with some of the most annoying piranha plant-esque enemies I’ve ever encountered. They killed me alot.
Unique Levels Are A Blast, Even When They Make You Rage
Although each level has the same Wario Land-esque layout, they all have at unique features to make them stand out, such as a mining level that focuses on bombs, a cityscape area that’s big on grind rails (my favourite of the bunch), and a sewer level with a rideable shark. Combine that with the levels regularly having you jump in and out of the foreground, and things never get boring. No matter how comfortable you get with Anton’s abilities, there’s always something new around the corner.
This all comes to a head with the multi-stage boss fights that test both your skills and patience. These challenging fights are a highlight of the campaign as a whole, even if the multiple challenging segments in a row can sometimes veer too closely to controller-breaking fury. The final fight in particular is surprisingly epic and had me glued to the screen even if it took me close to an hour to finally clear.
That level of frustration gets pretty common towards the end of Antonblast, as there are some nasty difficulty spikes and deliberately obfuscated collectibles to find. As much as I enjoy a challenge in my platformers, finding some of the optional skins and music tracks can feel borderline cruel, which put me off returning to 100 percent a game I otherwise haven’t stopped thinking about.
One great example is a spray paint can in the first level, which expects you to realise that a slight ramp in the corner will turn you into a bowling ball that moves back through the level. God help anyone trying to find everything without any help.
Even at its most difficult and frustrating, I couldn’t stop myself from admiring how well put together every facet of Antonblast is. Its wonderful sense of humour, bright and bombastic style, and endlessly rewarding platforming mechanics make it one of the best platformers I’ve played in years, and is hopefully a strong start to a series I’m dying to see continue. True to its name, it’s a total blast.
