Review: WackyLands Boss - Play As The Bad Guy
by Staff Writer
October 28, 2010
Overview
Throughout gaming history you always play as the hero fighting a range of bosses, but have you ever thought of how bad that is for the bosses? Well now you can play as the monstrous boss in Wackylands Boss where you destroy everything in your path, and beat back those heroes trying to save the day. Not only do you play as the boss, but you can fully customize it as you level up to have it wearing all sorts of combinations of attire.
Features
Your goal is to decimate Trogon from the outskirts in forest and tundra to the town, kingdom, and castle itself. There are 13 chapters with five to seven hordes per chapter providing about 75 levels including a boss vs. boss final battle per chapter. There are three mini-games to unlock, and there are a load of items to unlock to customize and strengthen your monster. Crystal is included for online high scores and achievements.The Good
The theme is simply outstanding with the role reversal allowing you to play as the bad guy. You get to destroy the kingdom rather than protect it, and finally have the power of a huge monster. It's so different fighting waves of little tiny enemies whose difficulty arises in numbers rather than size.
The customization options add even more personality to the game so you can really make the monster boss your own. You can add a Viking helmet, wizard clothes, clown shoes, and Wolverine claws with so many different combinations possible. A great aspect is that not only can you change the look, but each item changes your attributes of attack, defense, and speed.
The actual gameplay is a side scrolling beat 'em up adventure where you kill off all the small heroes flying at you. The game uses the touch screen exclusively for controls so you tap and hold to move, tap for light attack, swipe horizontally for heavy attack, and swipe vertically for dodge. The game is loaded with nonstop action as there are so many heroes on screen at all times to fight off.
Luckily as you progress you unlock special abilities like fire, stomp, rage, and a special attack which changes based on the type of monster you use. You can eat princesses to regain your health, and all the damage you do correlates to leveling up which unlocks new items.
The game has great cartoon artwork whether it's the environments, heroes, or your monster. It's great changing the look of your monster, and the animations for the special attacks really show the magnitude of the damage you're capable of. The soundtrack hits the adventure theme, with a little bit of a darker twist.
The Bad
The controls aren't the best for a game that is so dependent on fast action on your part. There is an overload of enemies at all times, and it takes a bit longer for action with the swiping mechanics rather than pressing buttons. That's not the main issue though, it's the set up of the swiping mechanics which are counterintuitive. When you dodge you roll horizontally, but you swipe vertical to perform the roll, and when you do a heavy attack you’re slamming down vertically, but you swipe horizontally. Often you'll mistake the two, and it can lead to a lot more damage. The controls do hamper your success from time to time unless you really concentrate on the controls since they're not intuitive or extremely smooth. Sometimes the game doesn't recognize you actions at all, and your character is a huge target, and takes a lot of damage.
