Bat Boy | PS5 Review

Not unlike Power Rangers, or Big Bad Beetleborgs of television fame, 'Bat Boy' comes at you with all that Sentai Saturday morning glory packaged neatly inside of an 8-Bit Metroidvania platformer. Presented as a sports hero focused fight against all things evil it pits a gang of heroic sports loving friends against neighborhood pests as well as invading aliens from another dimension. Including the evil menace that is Lord Vicious, and his cronies.

As bat wielding Ryosuke, the titular "Bat Boy", you find yourself, one fateful night, at the mercy of the maniacal mastermind Lord Vicious as he wisps away your brainwashed friends in arms to a mysterious trial of darkness. Following in hot pursuit you set out to save your friends, and best the baddies. Utilizing your baseball bat, and bat swinging skills as you take the lead of a talking amnesiac crow.

As Bat Boy, the lone hero of this interdimensional battle, you must use your baseball bat skills to overcome the otherworldly odds that are stacked against you. This test of skill takes place across several environmentally themed locations within Lord Vicious' domain, and has a series of puzzle-like platforming sections filled with Pigzies, and other enemy threats that stand between you and your attempt at rescuing your friends. With your bat in hand you will pick up additional moves or skills as you defeat your friends in a series of boss battles. Opening up new ways to traverse the stages, and deal with enemy threats or hazards. 

Ryosuke's, or Bat Boy's move's come in the form of a projectile parry as well as a jumping pogo option, initially. Allowing him to bat back projectiles at enemies as well as bounce higher on spring platforms or through stone blockades. As he defeats friends in combat he will basically learn a new move from them Mega Man style, and use that new move to get past puzzle areas to the next boss inline. Some of these moves are far more advanced than this game inspirations. Adding complex air dashes, bat throws that can be used to bounce off of, and other things that tie into the progressively challenging gauntlet of stages laid out before you on a point to point world map. 

Between the puzzle platforming, and the fights against lesser and greater enemies there are also collect-a-thon items that you'll be finding in plain sight as well as those that are hidden away within the environments. One such thing are the gems that come in different sizes. Gems, in particular, come with their own mechanic tied to enemies that get knocked into other enemies. It is in this cascade or combo that the gems enemies drop afterwards grow increasingly larger. Gifting gems of higher value for targeted play. Gems, are of course, the game's currency and can be spent at vendors to buy things like drinks for refilling health, or even for special seeds that can be bought from secret vendors. Seeds are also an item you'll be collecting, and each stage has three different seeds to find. That and a cassette tape that opens up access to the songs in the game's soundtrack back at the jukebox in town.

The Presentation ...

Visually, 'Bat Boy' is a polished pixel perfect take on retro games from the 80's to the early 90's. Featuring mixed palettes of color that accent fairly detailed environments, and cute character sprites. It's something you'd expect from a studio like Capcom. Not only are the graphics highly impressive, but the soundtrack is as well. It stays true to the time period it's trying to mimic with catchy chiptunes. 

The Verdict ...

Bat Boy brings with it a fair, but challenging take on the old Mega Man formula. Bringing it up to modern standards in regards to control responsiveness, and mechanics usage. Through both the stages, and the mechanics the challenge is gradually increased putting to use all skills learned up to the current point. 

In regards to the boss battles, and lesser enemies they come with learnable patterns, and aren't too difficult to overcome. Given time, and patience. The strict three hits and your done health system does make the boss fights, and stage traversal more formidable though. In retrospect seeing the strikeout message upon death, and realizing it's three hits and your out is an ingenious addition to the baseball themed setup. The attention to details like these, and how well everything flows makes this an experience that is wholly enjoyable. Not something that will frustrate you with unavoidable deaths. 

Having played the game myself I was taken aback by Bat Boy's chibi charm, and it's nod to Sentai themed TV shows. It's like something that would have been released in Japan first, and only reached Western shores if we were lucky enough. For that reason alone it earns my respect. To say I liked Bat Boy would be an understatement for sure. It is very much worth buying at launch, and will no doubt be the talk of the town soon enough!