Treachery in Beatdown City

Treachery in Beatdown City is a funny and novel clash of genres in the form of an '80s beat-'em-up.

Innovative mechanics make a strong first impression, but the action, music, and bombastic tone of the narrative all wear thin after a few hours

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Treachery in Beatdown City, and despite a lack of overall polish, it does a good job of emulating beloved 8-bit fighters while maintaining its own ground as a modern brawler.

While this beat-em-up and RPG mix is solid, a few things hold it back from being truly great.

You can't always mix peanut butter with chocolate and end up with something good.

If you were already a fan of the original release, you won’t be disappointed with the boatload of content Treachery In Beatdown City: Ultra Remix offers. From the updated arsenal of moves it puts at your fingertips, added areas to explore, and even more tongue-in-cheek storytelling that plays on current events and 90s video game nostalgia in equal measure, there’s a lot to like here. But fresh content and some witty writing can only carry a game so far. And while I love many of the ideas behind Treachery In Beatdown City, this update doesn’t do quite enough to keep its pixelated brand of pugilism from growing stale far too soon.

Treachery In Beatdown City well surpassed my expectations. I was skeptical of the combat system and how long it could hold my interest, but after nearly six hours I find myself wanting the second episode to drop the moment I finish typing this review. It scales up nicely in difficulty and sprinkles in new moves, new enemies and new tactics at just the right rate to keep things interesting the whole way through. I’m usually the “wait for a sale” type and not keen on episodic games, particularly ones that cost $20 on the Nintendo eShop, but even if the second episode somehow bombed I’d still be happy with what the first delivered. Here’s hoping that wherever the game goes from here, it involves even more fighting and a healthy helping of Farooq’s halal.

Is the innovative combat system found in this quirky beat’em-up RPG enough to overcome its flaws?

To sum this up, Treachery in Beatdown City is a lot of fun, but I can't suggest it due to the stability problems. Now I'm not saying to never get the game. What I am saying is I'd wait a while so the devs can hash out the issues

Treachery in Beatdown City struggles with a few quality of life issues and a story that will be a hit or miss.