Combusting makes me feel good.
Rolling away from a plate of leftover Thanksgiving food and reaching for my controller to boot up the final area of ANTONBLAST only after realizing I needed a second wind if I was going to retrieve my stolen spirits this holiday weekend. While actively fighting the creeping sleepiness induced by turkey my brain can’t help but launch this older, more anxiety-riddled version of myself back as though I’m having this current experience on my blue Game Boy Advance SP in the early 2000s. ANTONBLAST tosses an era of 2D handheld platformers in a barrel with Cartoon Network inspired aesthetics and hits the detonator only to leave behind the outline of my body and blast me right back to my early teen years.
The moment the menu screen drops into frame, ANTONBLAST lets you know the exact vibe you’re about to experience and carries that tone throughout it’s rampaging romp towards Satan. The Mountain Dew soaked vocal chords exclaiming the title of the game are just the first whiff of sound design that feels ripped out of a cereal infused Saturday morning. Hand drawn characters and worlds that are then manually converted to pixels resurrect nostalgia on the screen and coalesce with the music and sound effects into something special with each spoonful. This whole aspect of ANTONBLAST is a pillar of what makes it so wonderful, why it works so well.
Before barreling forward into explosive platforming, you are introduced to Dynamite Anton and Dynamite Annie realizing that Satan has snatched up all of Anton’s spirits. Motivated to replenish his liquor cabinet, Anton sets off towards Satan to reclaim the liquid he longs for. A simple and straightforward setup that lends a narrative backdrop to the controlled chaos Anton and Annie are about to embark on. While the story may be easy to put towards the back of your brain as the gameplay and world of ANTONBLAST engulf you, Satan will make a point to make himself known in-between levels keeping you motivated to reach your final destination.
While the story is serviceable and the audio and visual stylings enhance the experience, the true centerpiece of ANTONBLAST is the gameplay. Navigating a central hub world with doors leading to expansive and sprawling levels, Brulo’s shop for cosmetic and helpful items, and a restroom that lets you freely swap between playing as Anton or Annie exists as mostly a moment of respite as you delve into each level to recover your spirits and other collectibles. Controlling either of the heroes is easy to understand, aside from normal platforming movement you have their weapon which you can swing in different ways to aid you on your adventure. Swinging forward or clutching to generate more speed, attack enemies, and build you combo meter will be the most common way you are using it, followed by your air swing which allows you to bounce off of the destructible environment or enemies to reach new heights or keep the momentum up. The third one being a swing straight down in the air which allows you to break certain objects or dive into dumpsters to be transported to other areas of a level that you are in. All simple to execute but once mastered, can lead to a cavalcade of combustion as you crash through waves of enemies and environments alike. Each time I spun my mace out with Annie through another enemy in my path felt like I was pulling the chord of a lawnmower or revving a car engine and each time it tickled the neurons in my brain.
ANTONBLAST allows you to play as slow or as fast as you see fit, as explorative or as full throttle as you desire, but all roads in each level lead to a detonator that once activated will trigger Happy Hour and have you doubling back to the entrance of the stage before time runs out. In both phases of each stage there is much to explore, secrets to find, and two different planes to jump back and forth between but that is only one side of the platforming poker chip that ANTONBLAST has to offer. That other journey, that full-tilt adventure is the espresso-soaked platforming few games can nail. A train off the rails chugging full speed ahead into anything in its path amplified by accurately timing your hammer swings and jumps, bouncing off of enemies or crates to launch across hazards, all while stacking chips and pushing your combo meter. Snappy jumps, responsive platforming, and energized gameplay slices pulse in moments of flow state that feel like your foot is on the gas pedal rather than gripping a controller. Satisfying and electric, ANTONBLAST handles locomotion exceedingly well for a fast-paced platformer.
Each new level you enter has it’s own sense of style and lends itself well to the world revealed across your adventure. It was always a highlight to step into the next area being greeted with the logo for this new world and not knowing what to expect as the game typically introduces more unorthodox biomes in lieu of more traditional ones. The boss levels were some of my favorite in the game though. Usually having interesting mechanics introduced or new patterns to decipher different from the previous fights leading to memorable bouts that usually had me failing a few times before besting them. Some spanning multiple phases, the challenge and artistic embellishments during these encounters were some of the best examples of the creativity in ANTONBLAST as well as the culmination of the entire aesthetic of the inspirations it draws from and the identity Anton and company bring on their own. The most sugary of Saturday morning cereals.
ANTONBLAST is a concise adventure that you can rally through in a few sessions, with some added replay value if you want to hunt for all of the collectibles or engage with the other modes available upon completing any given stage. Tight platforming, engrossing essence that sucks you in, and a rush from start to finish. One of my few complaints with ANTONBLAST is that I feel at certain moments that there were some difficulty spikes, especially late in the game, that were heightened with infrequent checkpoints which meant failure required long portions of an area to be replayed. There are some things built-in that assist with that, like the ability to purchase additional hearts from Brulo’s shop, but that would require leaving and starting the entire level over and I never felt like that was the right move for me and possibly an unbalanced solution to a difficulty problem that plagued me in those moments.
ANTONBLAST‘s visuals and sound hum harmoniously with the gameplay lending a certain tactile crunchiness to each swing of a hammer or bonk of an enemy, never a soggy spoonful. The orchestra of crashes and swings bouncing feverishly off of my eardrums as Anton pummels his way through a swarm of enemies and roadblocks was like watching a jar of candy smash and each piece roll their way across the table knocking into whatever objects were strewn about as they bounced and spun towards me as I eagerly awaited to gobble them up. The moment to moment strings of movement were as fulfilling as each level’s climax, a feast for the senses. Evocative of games and cartoons of an era that doesn’t feel weighed down by the nostalgia it lovingly winks at. ANTONBLAST is a devilishly delicious platformer that may appear messy and raucous on the surface but harbors a finely polished core deep within. If you’re a fan of 2D platformers that have an attitude as gnarly as Anton’s platforming prowess, or are fans of games of a similar ilk, ANTONBLAST shouldn’t be missed.
We reviewed ANTONBLAST on Steam with a code provided by the developer.
ANTONBLAST releases on December 3rd, 2024 on Steam with a Nintendo Switch version to follow.
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