6 
0 Berserk Boy is a 2D Action Platformer developed and published by Berserk Boy Games. it uses a retro 16-bit art style with music from the legendary Tee Lopes of Sonic Mania fame. Out now on Steam and Nintendo Switch, it also runs on the Steam Deck (but has not been verified at the time of writing this review).
Go Berserk!
In the distant future where the Army of Darkness seeks to enslave the citizens of Earth. You play as the Human Kei, a member of the Resistance, who gains the ability to become Berserk Boy! with the help of the Mystical bird Fiore. Using the powers gained from Berserk Orbs and help from commander Leslie, Dizzie, and Fiore.
You must fight the forces of Darkness and defeat the Mad Scientist Genos to save Earth.
Gameplay
Berserk Boy is a 2D Action Platformer that is clearly inspired by the Mega Man games of the 90’s. Mega Man typically has 9 levels, each with its own boss. Berserk Boy has 15 core levels split across 5 areas. Each area has its own core boss and a collection of sub-bosses. There is one final level that you need to unlock. There are then 15 EX levels to be unlocked.
When starting a new game you get the options of Modern; Infinite lives and normal difficulty, or retro, 3 lives and harder enemies.
The level design has a mix of platforms and combat sections that will require you to use your abilities well. The combat is fairly straightforward but some creature types have different weaknesses for example I found dealing with shield creatures at range much easier than trying to dash them. The platforming itself has a vast variety requiring multiple techniques to navigate them. There is no particular way I found to cheese through the levels.
The Berserk orbs can each be powered up by spending the gems you collect throughout the levels either by just finding them or by defeating the creatures within a level. I strongly advise you to get your health up early on if you want to find the later levels easier. You can certainly make the whole experience much harder by simply not upgrading your orbs.
The Bosses
The 3rd level in each area is the main Boss level. This is where you unlock the next Berserk Orb, there are 5 Berserk orbs to collect each with unique features such as dashing, burrowing, and flight to name a few. The boss fights are very reminiscent of Mega Man boss fights where you must learn the pattern of the boss and use your skills to beat the boss. I did find that I could cheese all the bosses using the first Berserk orb.
I’d have liked to have seen them have more variety of abilities. But that’s not to say that the fights were not still fun, they were a lot of fun and in some ways, it was nice for them to not be frustrating.
Replayability
Each level contains 5 hidden Medals that require different abilities to get to them, this pretty much means needing to complete the story to unlock all the Berserk orbs first then return to levels to 100% the level. In addition to the medals, the levels have resistance members hidden throughout, when you find all resistance members in a level you unlock that level’s EX level. Finally, Berserk Boy ranks your performance for each level.
To achieve an S-rank you will want to avoid dying, get through the level quickly, and collect as many gems as you can.
Graphics & Audio
It’s worth restating that this review looks at Berserk Boy on the Switch. The game plays beautifully in Handheld mode, it also looks great up on the TV. The team went for a 16-bit Pixel art style, an art Style I utterly love as my indie Switch Library would show. there were no frame rate drops even in some of the more intense sections. The game holds at a steady 60 Frames Per Second and displays at 720p handheld/ 1080p on the TV.
The cutscenes are beautiful taking an Anime art style that adds to the game’s story, I’d have loved to have more of these like before or after the boss fights in each world to give more connection to the characters.
The game is beautifully voice-acted for the main characters, as for the music I can’t get enough of it, I’d love to get the game’s soundtrack on Vinyl. It’s all created by Tee Lopes of Sonic Mania fame. The SFX all blend nicely into the game music not giving anything jarring to take you out of the experience.
Longevity
On average a level takes about 3 to 5 minutes to complete. It took me 10 hours and 30 minutes to complete the story, but I still have a few EX levels to unlock.
As such I suspect I’ll be at around 12 to 13 hours once I have fully completed the game.
Final Thoughts
Berserk Boy offers ample gameplay which is fun, fast-paced, and enjoyable, offering plenty for Casual Players, Speed Runners, and Completionists alike. The graphics are lovely as are the cutscenes, and the music is just perfect for the game. Overall, this is what any Action Platformer fan has been waiting for.
Having loved every minute I really hope we get a sequel. I have the pleasure of awarding Berserk Boy the Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Discord | Podcast
About Author
Helpful article. Thanks
awesome review nate !