Bat Boy Review

Transporting you back in time to the great action platforming games you played on the NES, we have Bat Boy. Developers Sonzai Games and X PLUS Co. bring us this tale of sports-loving teenagers who become heroes at night to try and help anyone who needs assistance. You take on the role of Ryosuke, whose father was a baseball player and went missing seven years ago. His hero alter ego is named Bat Boy; he wears a red baseball uniform and is armed with a bat.

You receive a message from Saki — aka. Racket Girl — warning you that something is going on and you all have to meet up with Captain Ace. The group of sports-loving superheroes gather and meet Lord Vicious; he’s an enemy from a different dimension and is accompanied by his henchman, Azaros. They believe that this group of heroes would be a great fit for the "Trials of Darkness" that takes place in their home world. Bat Boy decides to use his skills to stop Lord Vicious by hitting a baseball at him. Vicious is unimpressed and declares that he doesn't need him but will take everyone else. He brainwashes all of them, and they follow him right into the portal, no questions asked. Bat Boy chases after them to rescue his friends and learn why they were chosen to participate in these trials from an alternate dimension.

As soon as Bat Boy arrives in this new world, he is attacked by a bird who works for Lord Vicious. You take a swing at him with your bat and knock him to the ground. Ryosuke, being the nice guy that he is, is concerned that he hit him too hard. Luckily, the hit knocked some sense into this bird and undid the brainwashing that had control of him. We find out his name is Garou, and even though he surely has a concussion, he has memories of Lord Vicious and Stratoss, the dimension they are in. As an added bonus, he can talk now. He then says he’d like to help Ryosuke, so he asks if he can accompany you on your mission. Any additional help is always welcome, plus he will teach you the ropes.

First, Garou teaches you the basics, like how to jump using the X button and how you can do a higher jump if you hold the button down longer. To attack, Ryosuke uses his baseball bat to smash the enemy or reflect projectiles that are shot at him. You can also jump on foes that you come across, but you have to combine it with a spin attack with your bat to bounce off your enemy and inflict damage. The bat is also great for breaking walls that are in your way, and can also throw it and pause it in mid-air to let it spin, allowing you to use it as a platform. This is also used to spin wheels to open blocked passages that you aren’t able to access; there are hidden areas where you can find collectables like cassette tapes and seeds that you can use to get useful healing potions or to collect gems, which are the in-game currency. The controls feel great and are very responsive, so it never feels clunky or laggy, which is important in a game where you have a lot of action going on.

In Bat Boy, each of the stages you visit has multiple checkpoints located throughout — to activate them, you just hit them with your baseball bat. Each life that you use counts as a strike, but fortunately, it is not a case of three strikes, and you are out. I have been able to get up to nine strikes with no issues; I have never gotten a game over. When you die, you will start back at the latest checkpoint that you reached. If you quit or leave that stage, you’ll be required to start back at the beginning. Once you attempt the level a few times, you develop muscle memory, making it pretty easy to get back to where you were. The part that I found more difficult was the boss battles.

At the end of each stage, you encounter a boss or large enemy that you will need to defeat to complete the level. The first one is Lord Vicious' henchman, Azaros, but after him, you face off against your brainwashed friends. They do not remember who you are; all they know is that they want to destroy you. Like in true Mega Man fashion, you will learn a new power once you successfully beat them. Your friends regain their memories and want to help you out, and these skills are sure to come in handy for the next stage you challenge.

Bat Boy has a beautiful-looking 8-bit aesthetic to it —  the pixels are all crisp and brightly coloured, making every stage you visit look great. I love the contrast between the dark green background in the forest and the light purple colour of the Pigzie enemies in the level. I appreciate when a game can use a palette of bright colours and pull it off so it really pops but doesn't look childish or tacky. Each stage has its own theme and collection of enemies that you will face. There are a couple of enemies — like the cosplay pigs called Pigzies — that show up on every stage, but they wear different costumes every time. So it’s fun to see what kind of outfit they show up in at the next spot. Though it’s not only the enemies that are dressed up: the friends that you face off against have their sports-themed superhero outfits on. Each one is inspired by a different sport, so all the characters have a unique look.

The visuals aren’t the only great thing about Bat Boy; the music is amazingly catchy, and no matter how many times I had to challenge the same stage, it never felt repetitive. I appreciate it when the people who work on the game's soundtrack are able to create songs that you want to hear and are able to make it so you don’t get sick of hearing that same track. The chiptune music, along with the sound effects, fits in with Bat Boy's retro aesthetic perfectly and transported me back in time when I was playing games like this on my Nintendo. This was truly a nostalgia trip for me.

Bat Boy has managed to capture the feeling of the great action platformers of the past and offers both a story-based game or the option to skip the story and speedrun the full game without interruption and displays a timer. Unravelling the narrative as you progress was fun, and I enjoyed the chemistry between Garou the bird and Ryosuke as they explored this other dimension together. Bat Boy is not an incredibly easy game that will be a walk in the park for gamers —  there is a lot of challenge here, especially when you are fighting boss enemies that have a second transformation when you think you have successfully defeated them. This is a title that fans of retro-style action platformers like Mega Man need to try out for themselves. Who knew that having a baseball bat as your main weapon would be so much fun and adaptable to any situation you find yourself in?