Dogurai Review

Dogurai tells the story of Bones, a retired dog samurai from the Special Forces, who’s forced out of retirement. In Bones’ world, a dystopian future where Armies and the Police were replaced by robots, the creator of the machines has decided to take over the world instead of using his creations for good. Bones needs to take on the robotic menace and put a stop to the evildoer at once.

Dogurai is a 2D action platformer where our hero Bones can attack, jump, double-jump, and slide his way through enemies and levels. It’s the typical formula of going from start to finish of each level, facing a boss, and moving on. Interestingly though, once the default start level is complete, it features a Mega Man-like level select screen giving players the choice to attempt levels in any order they want.

While the game isn’t Metroid-vania per se, the levels feel quite big and aren’t as straightforward as you’d expect. There are a few secrets to find, but they are easily decipherable (i.e. small tunnel where you can slide in for example). There isn’t any branching path, but there’s quite a bit of platforming to do as opposed to straight running from start to finish.

Each level also has a unique gimmick to them to add a layer of gameplay variety to the game. For example, one of the levels is set in an ice setting where running on ice speeds you up and allows you to jump further or another level looks like a futuristic setting filled with moving platforms. One of the game’s unique features is when enemies are stunned, you’ll be able to slash enemies by pressing the appropriate prompt that appears on screen which does a decent chunk of damage.

The game features a unique throwback visual to classic GameBoy games with limited color palettes, but the uniqueness of it comes from the fact that each level has a different color palette, giving levels a different visual presentation and obviously level design. The soundtrack is fair but forgettable. Sounds like a subpar GameBoy game soundtrack.

While it’s pretty interesting to have a different color palette per level, sometimes it be can difficult to see your character’s head or legs. Same issue with enemies where you don’t see them until the last second because they mesh with the background. There’s also questionable level design where they threw whatever they thought of instead of creating a strategic difficulty. Also, an important issue, double jumping works intermittently. Sometimes you’ll press a second time and the second jump won’t register or pressing once will make you jump twice causing unfair deaths in both circumstances. Also while the presentation will hit a nostalgia note, more actual GameBoy games look and sound better than this.

Dogurai is a surprisingly fair, challenging 2D platformer. Boss battles are fun and challenging, there’s a decent level of variety and challenge. Despite some frustrating questionable-level design, it’s fun. Also having the freedom of attempting levels in any order is something that’s sorely lacking in gaming because it gives players a chance to hone their skills. If you enjoy the genre and challenge, I strongly recommend Dogurai.