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Alex:
Renegade Kid was at PAX East showing off its games on Nintendo 3DS
both new and old, and there we got to try out a build of its latest 2D
offering, Treasurenauts. We have
gameplay footage from the floor, and we have impressions after the jump.
In Treasurenauts, players choose a particular treasure
hunter and one of three weapon types to use in a multitude of dangerous and
equally rich environments. Players rush
through each stage, collecting as much treasure as possible throughout the vast
landscapes while attacking monsters and avoiding giant ghosts and traps along
the way. Getting hit causes multitudes
of treasure to pour out of your character’s pockets, and if you get hit without
any treasure, you are defeated. There is plenty of
risk and reward in Treasurenauts, risking your fate versus multitudes of
treasure to line your pockets!
The game has two different modes. In the game’s original mode, players are told
to travel through the game in two hours and collect a million dollars in
treasure to beat the game. However,
after some consideration, Director Jools Watsham decided to expand on the scope
of the game and allow players the ability to play at their own pace. In this new mode, players can save the game
and move at their own pace around the interconnected world as they try to find
its most prized treasure in the land.
The demo offered three characters to select: an Indiana
Jones-like character, a ninja, and Max from Mutant Mudds. Characters control
the same, with the biggest differences being focused on weapon choices: Sword,
Gun, and Bomb. Swords require
close-and-personal battles against enemies, but its attack power is stronger
and more agile. Guns shoot slowly across the
screen and do slightly less damage than the sword, but sometimes distance is
welcoming, even in crowded spaces. Bomb
is the least spontaneous and most dangerous; you have to time the throws and
try not to get caught in the explosions, too!
The different weapons change how each stage is played, adding to the
replayability of the game. Furthermore, players will unlock special movement abilities by defeating the game's big bosses. If they are all anything like Mama Crab, we are going to be in for a treat!
This mama is rather crabby all the time...
While the characters are smaller in Treasurenauts versus
Mutant Mudds, the game still looks great, and the game moves at a steady
framerate even with all the treasure and enemies flying everywhere on
screen. Enemies have smooth animations, specifically the boss Mama Crab, and the clean lines and sprite
details looked crisp on the 3DS XL screen.
I am concerned that the original 3DS might prove to be too small for
some of these details to be seen as clearly, but on the 3DS XL the game is a
solid 2D showpiece of both 8-bit-like and 16-bit-like sprites alike. Like that?
In my playtime, I first dove head-first into the Beach
world, slicing my way through bats and crabs alike, but I was also careless
more than a few times, and I lost plenty of treasure along the way. I enjoyed how the world reacted to each slash
of my sword, enemies flashing and treasure chests shaking violently. The music in this world was especially
playful and adventurous, matching the desire to go hunting for glorious
treasure. Feeling rather brash, I then jumped
right into a Cursed stage with bombs equipped, and what a mistake I made! The tension was much higher, with ghosts
chasing me down every which way. In
these cursed stages, ghosts continually multiply and chase down the player, but
attacking a special orb causes them to scatter and weaken for a short
time. The risk vs. reward element is
pushed to its limit here, and in my case, I let the orb go untouched for too
long, and I was quickly cornered by as many as five giant ghosts and lost the
stage.
As tense as it got, it was a fun
romp running around the stage, dodging what I could in a desperate attempt to
find the exit. I am sure these stages
will be the most entertaining to watch someone play over their shoulder, just
to see their reactions. Or, if the player wants, we can play cooperatively and share the reactions together! Director Jools Watsham wants this game to be experienced easily, so the game only requires one version for a two-player game to play, and together, a player and his or her partner can take the world (and its treasure) by storm!
Making it rain...or hail...precipitating treasure!
Outside of my concern for the sprite size on a smaller
system, the game felt right. There are
quick movements in the characters, and the different abilities used in the game
help make traversing each world feel quite unique, even if you are traveling
through the same areas more than once. I
wish I could get more hands-on time with the game at PAX, but what I had time
to play convinced me not to worry about dropping some treasure when this comes out.
Treasurenauts is currently slated for a 3DS and Steam
release early Summer. Jools Watsham
talked about the game in our in-depth interview seen here.
For more on Treasurenauts, check here.
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