Golden Force

It's disappointing that Golden Force falls down in the areas that it does, because without these fixable issues it would be an easy recommendation – level design is mostly strong, the boss battles marry spectacle with varied and fun-to-learn attack strings nicely, and it feels good to get stronger and play better. Unfortunately, some rookie errors come close to spoiling the fun altogether, but if you're bloody-minded enough to muscle through these frustrations there is undoubtedly a lot to appreciate about Golden Force. Which is a shame, in a sense, because "Golden Farce" would have been a perfect tagline for this review. The one we've had to opt for is rubbish, by comparison. (It's not as easy as you might think, this game-reviewing lark.)

Golden Force's few redeeming qualities are completely overshadowed by its horrendous frame rate and long list of technical problems.

Taken on its own, Golden Force is decent. It looks wonderful, with some solid combat mechanics and very engaging boss fights. Start to compare it to other pixel platformers on the system, and you'll come to lament the forced trial-and-error gameplay, tedious combat, and unnecessarily broken upgrade economy. Patient players may stick it out, but for everyone else, the Switch has plenty of other well-crafted platformers.

Superbird Games has managed to create a fun and at the same time demanding game with pixel art graphics, which bring nostalgia to fans of retro-style.

So overall, while Golden Force does have some shiny moments, a lot of the adventure falls flat which is unfortunate as it has multiple elements that could have made for a stellar retro inspired adventure.

Golden Force doesn't quite have what it takes to be as good as the classics, but it's still a fairly fun time in its own right. It has some issues that make it a bit of an annoyance in some spots, but it still mostly does what it aims to.

Golden Force is competent in what it proposes and is a good entertainment throughout its duration. However, some dedication and attention to details such as variation in the gameplay and presentation screen would bring more elements for the game to go beyond the basics and stand out in the middle of the ocean.

There's a good game in here somewhere and I really want it to break the surface, but performance issues and questionable difficulty are holding down a great game.

Golden Force attempts to relive the retro gameplay of yesteryear but, in some ways, falls on its own sword due to a number of issues. It is marketed as “Old school difficulty (but not so frustrating).” This ends up not being quite so true because of the aforementioned gameplay and technical issues, which range from instances of poor level design to noticeable frame rate issues. If you are not hardcore, then I can’t recommend this game due to the punishing gameplay. If you’re interested, I’d say this is probably one to grab when on sale unless you’re sure you’ll enjoy it. Some of the special collectibles are very hard to find, and between that and improving your performance on each stage, it will keep you busy for a long while. It’s certainly not the best retro-inspired title out there, as there are certainly a number of others that play better than this one. Golden Force is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $19.99, as well as on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It is also coming to Steam sometime in Q1 2021.

The uneven balance of difficulty rooted in its main gameplay causes this gem to be a little duller than I’d like.