Platform Played On: PC
The indie scene has a tendency of shitting out games that look similar to this one. There is a nostalgia associated with 8-bit and 16-bit games at this point, and it often charms us into thinking a game is better than it really is. There are games that pray on our weaknesses of looking to the past, and then there are games like Super Time Force that allow us to embrace both history and the future.
In STFU -- get it? Of course you do, every site points this out -- you play as one of many soldiers, each with their own unique pros, cons and different abilities. You are part of the Super Time Force, a time-traveling military lead by Colonel Repeatski. The basic goal here is the same as most games, except with time travel: you have to save the world. Whether this means going into the future or back to the dinosaurs, you have to do it because it is your civic duty.
The story is silly. Let's just get that out of the way. It's also important to note that the game is extremely self-aware (so self-aware that it may become sentinent, if you leave it alone), so the ridiculousness of the plot only helps the experience. Throughout the game, you will be treated to the mostly clever and quirky comments of all the characters involved, as they rip on stereotypes and ride the novelty of the story as far as it can go. It's not the funniest game ever developed, but if you're anything like me it will make you chuckle a couple times, or at the very least, put a smile on your face.
The graphics are gloriously old-school. They won't appeal to some people who can only deal with modern graphics, but for those who appreciate different art styles and don't just see this particular kind as an attempt to cash-in on nostalgia, there is a lot to like here. The character models are fairly detailed, given the circumstances, and levels are alive with colour. This isn't a drab, dark game... it gleefully uses a whole arsenal of colour. There is also a lot of things going on at any given time, like bullets flying at you, enemies jumping around, four of your characters all dazzling us with their gunplay and footwork. It gets really hectic but the game never looks bad because of it... just a little confusing.
Not only that, but the levels themselves are carefully crafted. Look at the background and you will surely see something going on, which makes the world feel bigger than the 2D stages that you exist in. You can see rust on objects, splatters, the whole nine yards. Some people think that creating a game with these types of visuals is easy, but it's not. It takes a different type of skill set to truly bring this brand of pixels to life. Super Time Force clearly had a lot of attention put into not just making a game that appeals to gamers from the late 80s and early 90s.
The music helps reinforce where the roots of this game lie. You're not going to hear an orchestra as you're blasting baddies. You're going to hear all the bleeps, bloops and blomps that you would hear in an NES game. It wouldn't really make sense to do it otherwise in this case, since the game is so entrenched in where it came from, but it's reassuring to know that -- like the visuals -- there was a lot of care put into making the music good on its own. It's not Shovel Knight good in this regard, with memorable track after memorable track, but it helps aid the experience. Unfortunately, as I played, there was so much going on the screen at a time that I didn't have a lot of time to actually concentrate on the music. I had to listen to the tracks as I wrote this review.
The most important aspect of Super Time Force is the one that sets it apart from other games of its ilk. It's Contra having a baby with Braid: only it's not as fun as Contra and doesn't have the emotional depth to support its gimmick like Braid.
I'll admit that the game looked like a lot of fun when I watched videos of it. I admired Capybara's attempt to redefine/innovate the classic 2D side-scrolling shooter by introducing a feature where you can rewind time at any given point, providing you still have some rewinds left (you get 30 each level). I still admire them for this, but I think the actual execution is a little bit lacking.
What you will most likely find out quickly, if you don't already know, is that it leans more on the puzzle side of things than the action side. Sure, you jump around, shoot things, platform to different ledges, shoot more things, fight a boss, kick some ass... but perhaps more importantly is how you manage time. You will die, and you will die lots, but dying is a learning experience here rather than a penalty.
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| This isn't even the scary part. |
Every time you die, you can just rewind time and restart that particular area. Only something is different when you come back: the old version of you fights beside you, mimicking your own actions when you played as that particular character. What this means is that you could have a bunch of different "yous" on your screen at any given time, laying waste in a much quicker and efficient way than you would by yourself.
This is important because you only have sixty seconds per level, so you're always racing against the clock. There are ways to slow down time or add ten seconds onto the clock, but it is a very quick and stressful experience. Super Time Force aims to constantly put you on edge, with makes rewinding time a little hectic because you don't really have time to breathe.
Some will truly love that element of the game, but they contradict one another and lessened my enjoyment with the game. It's sad to admit because I am a guy who constantly gives praise to innovation because we're at the point where games that try something new should be encouraged, but I think I would have preferred if Super Time Force had less time manipulation and less Contra.
The mechanics are solid, and the game is extremely polished, but I felt myself getting frustrated more often than I had hoped. It's a pretty challenging game, but that's not my complaint. It's that this race against time spits in the face of the puzzle aspects. You may be thinking, "But Tyler, when you're rewinding time you can essentially take all the time you need in order formulate a proper plan," but that takes away from the action. Braid worked because it never shifted tones like this: it was always just a puzzler. Contra worked because it was non-stop action and required skill. Super Time Force is stuck in some kind of purgatory where sometimes it fumbles over the very mechanic that got it glowing endorsements originally.
That's not to say that the time mechanics aren't sometimes fun. Early in the game, you have to save someone, and this is an excellent usage of the core mechanic because it slows the game down and makes you solve a real puzzle, as opposed to making you just spawn different versions of yourself in order to complete a level. It was thrilling when it was used like that, but those moments are few and far between.
Super Time Force Ultra also includes bonuses that the original release did not. Namely, it has fifty challenges where the focus is on the puzzle aspect more than the shooting, for the most part. This is a little more rewarding because it's more straight forward and picks a side rather than flirting with both.
I know some people will think that I didn't enjoy the game as much as I had hoped because I suck, but that's not the case. I'm not awful at the game, but I'm not great. The problem was that I didn't feel a desire to get better because of the constant shifts between wanting to be an action game and wanting to be a puzzle game. I'm sure there is a way to make this work better than Super Time Force did, but I'm not reviewing a possibility, and as it stands, STFU is a completely solid game that can be really really frustrating.
Rating: 7.5/10
Verdict: It has its flaws, and the core mechanic of rewinding time actually makes the game stumble a bit more than it should, but it is still a fun game. We should praise it for trying something different, even if it's not something we'd prefer.
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