Gaming The System: Guacameele! helped me remember why I enjoy video games again


All you regular readers of my column probably know me as someone who’s always got gloom and doom predicted for the future of video games. I’ll definitely admit to being a downer, but it’s for a good reason.

The industry of video games at large seems to take a sour turn on a constant basis, with shifty companies, shiftier journalists, disappointments, betrayals, and an all around lack of respect for tconsumers. However, it’s hardly the end of respectable video games, and one title I’ve been playing – the first I’ve actively played continuously in a long time, Guacameele! – reminds me why this medium is still worth it.

Created by Drinkbox Games, a small team based in Toronto, Guacameele! is an indie platformer and beat-em-up with old fashioned gameplay roots set in a fantastical version of Mexico based on light, humorous stereotypes and folklore. No, the game doesn’t sport an uninspired faux-retro pixely art style to achieve this. If anything, it’s quite a visual feast, with boastful, bright colours and a look reminiscent of traditional Mexican art mixed in with a clean, vector-gradient look. The music is pure video game, with all the necessary calm and intensity where needed, with a beautiful Spanish salsa flavour.

Of course, all of this is meaningless if the game is no good at, you know, being a game, and that’s where Guacameele! really shines. It’s hard to describe, but the best way to put it is that this game feels like the natural evolution of games we’ve all grown up with – Streets of Rage, Metroid, Final Fight – all blended together in a manner that feels sensible rather than for the sake of novelty. You’ve got your easy-to-follow yet interesting story with a compelling world to explore from Metroid, humorous sidequests and saucy and occasionally helpful townsfolk to talk to from Castlevania and a fun, pick-up-and-play beat-em-up, customizable and upgradable gameplay from River City Ransom.

Despite the simplicity of its elements, Guacameele! doesn’t feel like a step backwards. If anything, in this age of overcomplicated, over-tutorialized gameplay that insists on stopping you to teach arbitrary skills, something as ingeniously simple as Guacameele! is pure joy. Unadulterated, button-mashing joy. Chock full of level secrets, epic boss battles, bizarre and challenging enemies, it’s a video game in its purest form, retro without trying to be in your face about it.

If you want a break from being constant cinematic experiences, Guacameele! can be picked up for the PlayStation 3 and 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, Wii U and on Steam.