Buck Blastem Review

Buck Blastem is set on the fictional planet called Lago where chaos has overtaken the daily lives of the citizen during Buck Blastem’s absence. Now that the heroic titular character is back, maybe there’s a chance to restore peace for this once edenic world.

Buck Blastem is a 2D action platformer where the goal is to reach the end of each level. When clearing the area’s levels, you’ll be pitted against a gigantic threat. What makes it a bit different is that each area is like a mini-Metroidvania; levels aren’t straight and linear.

In order to progress through each area, you’ll need to unlock paths by picking up yellow batteries and placing them into a different spot in order to unlock the door. In your way, you’ll find a bevy of threats you’ll need to take down. Enemies will drop little gems that will act as refill for your health.

The Metroidvania part of it is also to encourage players to explore; while you can go through and find the most direct path, you can’t explore further and find currency or special little satellite-like balls. The currency can be used to purchase additional firepower through shops hidden through each area.

You can buy additional firepower and switch at any time. Purchasing additional weaponry has a limited amount of ammo; so use wisely. The little special balls will allow you to acquire new upgrades through other types of shop such as Health increase.

The game looks good in a its 2D pixelated goodness. There’s a decent level of detail in enemy variety, each area has its own theme and color palette in order to show players a bit of variety and making it feel like a level change. The soundtrack is a decent chiptune score; it won’t rival classic soundtracks, but it does fit the game well and some of it will stay stick in your head once you put the controller down.

So the game’s biggest problem is the bugs. This game either was never thoroughly QA’ed or failed QA and still got released. I had a few issues where I was simply trying to shoot an enemy and I got clipped through the ground; unable to do anything except reset the game. Another instance, I was just trying to jump to a platform and I was teleported to the bottom area of a level; basically skipping most of it.

Buck Blastem is a mildly enjoyable 2D action platformer with Metroidvania-lite mechanics. Levels can be done from start to finish as linear as possible, but also some exploration is recommended to find currency and items to upgrade the titular protagonist. But be warned that you might come across odd bugs that will cost you some progress; even if you find checkpoints. There are worst ways to spend 30 minutes.