Sometimes you just want a a game you can boot up and be playing in what feels like seconds. Mononoke Slashdown provides that and much more in a surprisingly entertaining game.
Mononoke Slashdown, is the best bits of Dynasty Warriors, condensed into a lovely little package. Though the game is not without its own faults.
First the negatives. Mononoke Slashdown feels like a budget game for the best part. Presentation is lacking and the art direction just doesn’t hit the mark. The game is trying to show the influences of historical Japan, but cannot quite pull it off.
Sound feels flat, which means that your attacks lack a certain oomph you’d get with other games. Whilst the visual feedback also just falls short at times, meaning you can get hit by off-screen enemies rather easily too.
Levels are mercifully short, boiling down to defeating everything that is thrown at you to win. This is where the best of Dynasty Warriors comes in to play.
This is a 2D single stage affair, whereby you just lay waste to tons of enemies as they spawn onto the screen. You have a simple melee attack, ranged attacks, jumps and specials. All used to dispatch your numerous foes.
Enemies are well presented, each different type has a distinct look, making it easy to see how they will attack once you learn their patterns.
The game does get progressively more difficult as you progress and the challenges vary along with it. Each stage has a simple pass state, but also includes additional challenges should you want them.
As a game there is no reinventing of the wheel here. You’re not playing something that will change your perspective on a genre. Or even something that will live with you forever more. What you do have is a fun time waster that’s worth every bit of the £6.29 ($6.99) you’ll pay for it.
The Switch library is so full and varied at the moment. It can be hard to justify fun throwaway titles like this. Yet, Mononoke Slashdown is very much worth having. It is fun and you can be playing a stage inside 30 seconds of booting the game.
It feels like the ideal toilet break game with the length of individual levels and the simplicity of the gameplay. Not a must have, but a game that wouldn’t feel like a waste of a purchase either.
