Gourmet Warriors | PS5

Arcade brawlers of the 80's and 90's were something else, weren't they? Filled with interesting characters, weird worlds, and the options for co-op gameplay these video games of yesteryear were like no other. Likewise, PIKO's latest foray into that very niche, a beat'em up called 'Gourmet Warriors', aims to take gamers back to a time where things didn't have to make sense. A time when gaming was fun and the fun police were nonexistent. 

With this unusually timed retro inspired re-release we are privileged to play through one of the wackiest and most insane beat'em ups of our lifetime, "Gourmet Warriors". Through a trio of wonderfully weird main characters in the form of Bonjour, Mademoiselle, and Tres Bien we find a world that is literally Hell. Taking place in a demonic city known as Zeus our protagonists' world is plunged further into darkness by otherworldly warriors hellbent on opening up the gates of Hell, itself. Through some kickassery, taunting, and culinary cuisine these heroes set out to save the day!

Gourmet Warriors, at it's core, is a four button beat'em up or brawler released under the QUByte's Classics publishing label and developed by PIKO Interactive. It is designed like a modern retro re-release with all the usual bells and whistles accompanying it. Everything from the visual filters, to the screen size, and button remapping were made available in this budget priced package. Allowing one or two local players to enjoy the game as they see fit. 

The game itself comes complete with a brief story intro done up in a 16-Bit art style with those 16-Bit graphics carrying over into and throughout the game. At the start you'll be able to choose from three characters, and some hidden secret characters if you know of that secret. The main characters include Bonjour, Mademoiselle, and Tres Bien with the secret characters being playable enemies. Bonjour, who is one such main character, is your buff brawler type that deals mostly with punches. Mademoiselle, on the other hand, is your more nimble, and acrobatic character with a special jump kick. Lastly, Tres Bien is a Kabuki type with a mixed style of fighting. 

Each character comes with the ability to taunt in multiple directions using the DPad plus TRIANGLE, as well as the ability to jump, attack, and grapple with their respective face buttons. While there are no in-game move lists the game does also feature high damage special attacks that could be better explained. These are made possible by tapping the right sequence of buttons while facing an enemy. Utilizing these special attacks will help with the scalable difficulty settings which includes Mild, Medium, and Spicy. In addition to the staple mechanics, and to help on solo, is a shadow clone item that can assist you as you fight your way from start to finish. These items drop from a special alien enemy that only spawns at certain times, and once picked up will shadow clone your character gifting that CPU controlled clone their own separate health bar.

Whether solo or in local co-op your goal is about as basic as they come. You must make it from area to area, and eventually to a boss by clearing out all the baddies along the way. All while collecting their dropped food items for a between stage health recovery bonus. Health, as it were, is a very limited commodity, and you only have a single try before you are taken back to the title screen for a complete do over. Thus in taking damage it is necessary to regain lost health through the after stage cooking event, and lightly through picked up food items as you go. 

In the cooking event, in particular, you will pick two collected food items from a list of ingredients, and the resident cyber chef will fix your character a dish. Depending on the dish you receive your health recovery will vary. Certain characters prefer certain dishes, and it is only through trial and error that you'll figure this out. If you maintain a full health bar through each stage it is possible to add bonus health to your health bar. Changing it's color, in kind, to indicate the amount of bonus heath you have in store.

The Presentation ...

Gourmet Warriors is about as arcade-like as it gets. It harbors retro style 16-Bit graphics with a Japanese style of character design, and stage backdrops to match. The soundtrack is also retro in that it maintains a chiptune style of music. Staying true to the retro time period, overall, and only deviating from that formula to offer up screen filter variations, and screen sizing options. You'll find that the filters include a Smooth, Sharp, CRT, and HQ4X option. CRT is kind of crude in comparison to true retro games, and HQ4X is a mess on larger screen sizes. Leaving Smooth, and Sharp to be your best alternatives. Depending upon screen size choice you will either get an art banner or no banner at all. There are no art banner selections to choose from beyond the one given, and screen size can distort the visuals, especially if you go for Stretch instead of Normal, or Fit.

The Verdict ...

Gourmet Warriors is more or less a novelty style game. A game with a gimmick. It's top selling point is it's weird and wacky world and characters. That, and the odd cuisine based health refill system that is unique to the game. Control-wise it's also different from standard beat'em ups. It's taunt or pose feature is more stylish and varied though it holds no sway in gameplay. The simple jump, attack, and grapple mechanics also make for a minimalistic style of fighting if you don't know how to perform specials. To that point I do believe the game is in desperate need of a move list. Beyond that complaint it's fairly solid for what you'll pay to get it. QUByte Games are usually affordable, and rarely go over $10 each. Even at a little over $10 I could see this game being worth it just for the experience.