Chenso Club Review

Chenso Club tells the story of a growing group of fighters looking to save the world from alien invaders attacking everything and everyone. Our group of aggressive heroines are able to use the aliens’ life-force to power up and beat them up.

Chenso Club is a 2D action platformer where players go through a handful of diverse levels. Each screen is filled with enemies and players can’t progress until all enemies are killed. If you try to skip a screen, you’ll lose health and be thrown back in the level. Once you’ve cleared every area, you’ll be thrown into a boss fight.

In order to successfully go through each level, characters have a handful of skills at their disposal. There’s a weak and strong attacks. While the former is pretty straightforward, the strong attack will vary depending on how you use it. Using it on the ground will result in a different, albeit still strong, attack. You can also use a dash ability to dash through hazardous obstacles, enemy attacks, etc… .

Once you’ve cleared a level, you can unlock a new character. Not only is this a good way to have players hooked on your game, but additionally, each character differs from one another. For example, the first character you unlock uses a giant hammer and you can feel the heaviness of it and also the fact she also moves slower than the default character.

You can also upgrade your characters. After certain zones, a shop will appear where you’ll be able to buy attack increase for example, the addendum being you need to pay in blood i.e. with your health. Or there are also mini-games that will reward you with upgrades. Mini-games are more often than not a timed mini-game where you need to spill the blood of your enemies and fill up a container. The more blood you spill, the more rewards (up to 3) you get. You can also get upgrades by amassing fans on the in-game Chirp social media features. “Friends” will reward you with additional perks.

The main problem here is the gameplay. It feels tedious and boring; even sometimes barely even responsive. Multiple times I was trying to do an air attack, but for some reason, I’d jump, but the attack wouldn’t go through. Dashing also feels… off? Really clunky, albeit useful.

Chenso Club looks great as a whole. Each world has a unique design and offers a colorful experience. Even on darker backdrop, the enemies and objects really stand out. The game’s story is told through comic book line panels; characters remind of the game Scott Pilgrim vs The World. The soundtrack is a cute upbeat score, but while it does a great job when playing, it’s also quite forgettable. You won’t humming these tunes once you’re done.

Chenso Club is a competent 2D platformer riddled with minor annoyances. I do love the fact that the developers let players unlock new characters by actually playing the game. It offers a decent replay value only if you’ve really enjoyed the game. Trying it with a different character can always be an interesting experience and with the handful of difficulty selection, there’s a challenge for all. Hardcore fans of the genre will revel despite the game’s shortcomings, but those who like a solid and tight adventure, might want to pass.