Basureroes: Invasion Nintendo Switch Review 8.5/10 "It’s time to take out the trash" ⚠️🚮💥 @javi_mikau @basureroes @JanduSoft #IndieGame #GameDev

The Superhero League of Hoboken, a much-loved DOS game that also featured a team of heroes with…less than obvious powers of good sprang to mind upon diving into Basureroes: Invasion, I instantly got that vibe of (whilst this is very different in terms of genre from The Superhero League of Hoboken!) a game with a sense of humour and self-deprecation about itself whilst also being genuinely charming, amusing, and well-designed -AND for up to four players!

Just putting this out there as I had no idea what the title meant, ‘basura’ is Spanish for rubbish / trash / garbage – just in case anyone was as flummoxed by the title of this one as I was! Luckily, aside from the title, nothing else about Basureroes: Invasion is rubbish, as it’s an incredibly engaging – and accessible – 2D platform game that has been a regular multiplayer fixture (although it’s just as good in single player mode) in our household over the last couple of weeks.

The retro-pixelated action begins with the evil Dr Diogenes returning to cause havoc on Earth, and just as he about to again be thwarted by our heroic team, an even larger threat looms on the horizon – quite literally- as aliens invade the world and promptly take control.

With the team captured and requiring rescue, initially only some helpful robots and main Basureroes team member Banananinja can be used – the characters can be flicked between at will in the game – and from there, you must jump, attack, slide and environmental puzzle-solve your way to victory, perhaps rescuing some hapless folks and even dogs along the way.

Everything about the game exudes charm, class, and going the extra mile in terms of developmental passion, from the tight controls, jaunty chiptune music, animations, smoothness of gameplay, and level design. Whilst there are multiple difficulty levels that allow you switch from the classic ‘three lives only, with minimal checkpoints’ through to a modern style that gives infinite restarts and checkpoints aplenty (perfect for playing the game with younger gamers), the game never feels unfair in design with enemy placement, environmental hazards and even the ‘mini side-quest’ areas that will give bonus awards and achievements for rescuing the dogs and captured citizens feeling fair and yet challenging on the risk/reward side of things.

As you build up your team and switch between them to utilise their specific powers at various points, the neat little touches in the game reveal themselves; the idle animations, different character looks when health is getting low, and my absolute favourite and a testament to the child-friendly, accessible nature of the game – the ability to put another character on your back and carry them across the more difficult platforming sections, a lovely touch that allows younger or less experienced players to still feel part of the action, and it also subtly build up the sense of camaraderie between the hero team on screen whilst fitting in well with the sense of humour illustrated throughout (such as when you knock over a hapless alien janitor as he mops the floor, spilling his bucket in the process).

SUMMARY
With pattern-based large boss fights, a home base to explore, and even a couple of vehicular-based levels to mix things up, Basureroes: Invasion is a really fun little game that celebrates teamwork. 

With the only real niggles being the fact that a couple of the tunes on the soundtrack could be looped a little better, there could be a little more variety in enemy types, and that some of the hero powers could be a little more practical in-game, these really are minor issues that don’t detract from the fact that Basureroes: Invasion is a great co-op multiplayer title. 

It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but my word, it makes it trundle along as smoothly as ever, with a nod to the classics of the past.

Right, I’m off to take out the trash.

8.5/10

🆒COOL🆒