A fun local multiplayer experience with an ancient sporting event aesthetic for you and up to 4 other friends.
We face competition every day. In essence survival comes with its own set of opposition to overcome. We avoid the pitfalls of defeat and appropriately revel in our victories at even the smallest level. Our modern days are more tame than most of human history, but contests of skill are commonplace in any form of entertainment. In video games each puzzle, simulation, or challenge of combat explores new directions and platforms for determining whose skill is the highest. But while tournaments to the death before the eyes of gods have since fallen out of fashion, the multiplayer combat sport of Bamerang seeks to revive the ancient trend.
The idea of playing games together in the same room may sound antiquated, but there is no substitute for friends and competitors alike testing their skills and fighting for dominance of the same screen. Bamarang is an indie title focused on this kind of skill-based multiplayer competition. The adorable species of pixel characters choose opposing colored teams to battle for possession of gold chips. The primitive weapon of choice for these fights is the boomerang, which is used to knock opponents off of the fighting area. At the end of each round a ominous hand in the sky determines the winning team based on who has gathered the most nuggets of gold.
The prehistoric theme to the graphics and pixel art also bring life to the simple nature of the gameplay. Similar to certain arcade gaming traditions, the controls rely only on a dual stick format. one thumbstick to move and the other to aim your throws. There are also three buttons to use, one to load your boomerang, and two triggers to angle your throw to the left or the right. When combined with the suitable mechanics and visuals, familiarizing with controls the and playful combat style is a breeze. The controls are even briefly restated as entry buttons before each match while assigning teams and players. The scoreboard also draws heavily from the stone ages by providing the same atmosphere as a pong match but surrounded by more complex comic art and graphics.
Songs and Sound effects alike are influenced by the stone age as well. The ambient yet energetic songs apply modern sound qualities to a game which otherwise feels like an artifact from the past. Dance tracks are accompanied by tribal percussion and wind instruments that greatly enhance the instinctive feel to every round. The characters don’t say anything intelligent but there’s an adorability to the sound effects associated with their struggle which altogether add up to a nonsensical good time.
While the atmosphere is ancient and larger than life, the joys of Bamerang are in its simplicity. These are not always battles of frantic button presses at turbo speed. The boomerangs will attempt to return to their thrower in varying strengths depending on how long the button is pressed. Committing to throwing left or right while evading and trying to land timing is enough to get your blood pumping and keep competition fierce, yet simple enough to grasp for new or young players. Each ascending stage also presents a new challenge for our cast of boomerang gladiators. As the battleground ascends new obstacles like holes and hiding places enter the playing field and open up unexpected layers of depth in the battles for up to ten rounds.
Bamerang is an entertaining sport to be enjoyed with friends, but it does seem to achieve its objective in the simplest way. The only real downside is that it’s not a robust game for players interested in storytelling or online play. There’s not much progression from what’s expected. There’s no single player mode or anything to discover after the initial surprise of the changing stages. The best experience is with all four players, but fighting one on one would be a great way to settle a bet. While multiple players are a requirement, the uncanny sport offers enough skill challenges to pursue more players.
Bamarang is a nice catch for couch co-op gamers of all skill levels. Intuitive controls are easy to learn and quick to respond during the last player standing style matches. The Sound and visuals supplement both the challenge of combat and the humorous nature of gameplay. So don’t take for granted this tite’s smaller scale and innocent appearance, Bamarang offers an uncommon platform for in person challenges that’s hard to find in most modern games.
Pros
Easy to pick up and play
Deep combat from simple mechanics
Tribal art style, atmosphere, and sounds are charming
Various battlegrounds
Cons
No Single player Options
No online play
No storyline
