Venture Kid Review
by Amr (@siegarettes)
- Venture Kid
- Snikkabo AS
- FDG Entertainment
- Switch, PC, iOS
Venture Kid is a Mega Man inspired platformer. Retro style action games aren’t exactly the rarity they used to be, and you’ve absolutely played a game in this style already. Thankfully, Venture Kid at least nails the core action, with responsive controls that provide the kind of strong feedback that other retro games lack, which counterbalances its more strict damage requirements. Unfortunately, Venture Kid also chops of the framework of the series it takes inspiration from, and puts the pieces back together in a form that doesn’t make sense.
The problems start right at the menu screen. There are two available modes: Classic and Adventure. Classic uses the linear level order of the original mobile version of the game, while Adventure allows you to choose stages in any order. The newly added freedom to choose your approach might be nice, but playing each mode it’s clear that Venture Kid was designed with the Classic stage order in mind, since the weapon’s you get from each boss make navigating the next one much easier. Bosses don’t have elemental weaknesses either, so there isn’t much sense in doing them out of order.
The mobile origins rear their head again when it comes to the shop system. It’s not egregious, but there’s a conspicuous amount of orbs to pick up around the stages, and it takes a decent grind to get the few upgrades available, with certain powerups like lives or extra health always available from a menu, outside of boss fights. The shop falls into a weird situation where it provides instant access to what generally functioned as preparation for the next stage in classic Mega Man, but also doesn’t feel useful enough to actually get you through a tough point, without a serious grind. I assume the in-app purchases of the original took care of the latter point, making it feel even more like a leftover system.
Levels also don’t have the sort of verticality that classic Mega Man does, thanks in part to the widescreen aspect ratio. Instead levels feel almost like the redone layouts of Mega Man Powered Up, slightly cramped, with tighter layouts that make it hard to avoid combat. To make up for this there’s a bit more focus on exploration, with certain levels having gimmicks like bombs you have to bring with you through a platforming challenge to open up the boss room. It generally works, and provides more difficult routes to option treasures that force you to approach a space differently.
On a more aesthetic note, Venture Kid fails to carry any of the appeal of its inspiration. The titular kid is exactly that–just some kid. His weapons are made by an ally at the end of each stage instead of picked up from the boss, and the stages themselves are chibi renderings of well worn adventure tropes. Sorry, but the fundamental appeal of a robot boy fighting for peace and humanity will always outshine some dude killing stuff on the way to treasure.
Venture Kid isn’t a bad game, in a lot of ways it has the building blocks of a very good one. The combat and stage gimmicks are solid, and it sits at a great balance that paces level so that they’re easy to speed through, but require clean play to succeed at. It’s a shame its structural problems and dire aesthetic hold it back. Maybe evoking the spirit of Mega Man is enough for others (and by many accounts it is, since Venture Kid’s Switch sales have far surpassed the other platforms), but it’s got tough competition given the almost 20 other Mega Man games on the Switch.