Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack Review

Developer: Inti Creates

Publisher: Inti Creates

Release Date(s): Digital- August 31^st, 2017, Physical- October 31^st, 2017

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Originally on 3DS

Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack is a great addition to the Nintendo Switch’s ever-growing library of Indie games. Ported from 3DS and made by Inti Creates, Striker Pack consists of 2 games (Azure Striker Gunvolt 1 and 2) that are action side-scroller with various mini-bosses. If you enjoy side-scrollers like Mega Man and Shovel Knight, I recommend you give these games a shot.

Both games merit on a balance between speed and destruction as you run through obstacles with a set of skills. The main character (Gunvolt) has different type of blasters and generates a flashfield that homes in on targets after you shoot them (kind of like tagging). The electric field has a strong offensive tactic but serves as defensive weakness since it drains the shield. Dodging projectiles is as important as attacking. The goal is to reach the end of the stage and beat the boss. Yes, it is the same format as Mega Man, but the games have a unique identity in the way you play it. Each stage is set in a different landscape with unique obstacles and enemies along the way. The level design and the enemy types were minimal for the first game but it was a little better for the second game. Killing enemies while dodging generate high score combos while timing even further enhances score once the stage is cleared. Every part of the stage, I had to think – do I have time to destroy these enemies? or should I zip by them to get a good time record? It really kept me on my toes.

Not only does the Azure Striker Gunvolt have solid gameplay, it has high replay value by providing a set of challenges to complete on my next run. It continually drove me to make my runs better by rating the stages with a letter grade system, and rewarding me with various components. These components are later used to form equips that can enhance speed, power, and protection. There is also a leveling system, but there was minimum progression with the character. As I leveled up, only fixed skills were earned at certain levels. The level was more of a guide of how far I was rather than how powerful the character was. I was certainly okay with the light RPG elements because that was not the focus of the gameplay. It was just a nice addition.

While the story scenes consisted of flashy anime conversations like a graphic novel, the games had a nice pixel art design. I LOVED the art style and the animation. It paired great with the gameplay and looked fantastic on the Switch’s screen (which should not be a huge surprise since they are 3DS ports). HD Rumble was also nice add on emphasizing the power of the attacks and explosions. By the way, this game is perfect on the Switch handheld. The games are not taxing on handheld mode which means the battery life lasts quite a bit. I had no trouble with battery life in 3-4 hour sittings.

Now onto the story…. Which are the weaker points of the game but hey, that is my personal taste. Azure Striker Gunvolt 1 sets in the far-flung future where many people are adepts that have septimal powers (which are kind of like super powers). The storyline revolves around a special adept named Gunvolt (or GV for short) who has powerful electric abilities. GV fights alongside with his pals in a rogue organization called QUILL against an evil company called the Sumeragi who is controlling society and experimenting on adepts. The first adept he saves is a girl named Joule who has a siren-like ability to control and heal other people. She becomes an important sidekick with her alter-ego-ghost adept. (I know… kind of hard to wrap around. It’s hard to explain). Nonetheless, the ghost adept was my saving grace by sometimes reviving and enhancing my energy gauge. After the first stage, it opens to a variety of levels with each having a unique adept boss. The boss levels had a nice way of delivering hardcore obstacles while not being too difficult especially when I started to make gear. In the end, I did not care about the story, characters, or the relationships between them. I just wanted to play the game. The game lets you skip scenes which is nice but side characters still pop up onto my screen with some dialogue. Sometimes the dialogue blocks the level design which can get annoying. The writing is also not the best in the world especially having some translation abnormalities.

The story of Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 picks right back up after the end of the first game with a new enemy known as Eden who wants to provide sanctuary to adepts by harnessing Joule’s power. The second game opens to a new playable character named Copen who is a specialized agent that has a nifty robot companion. He basically hates adepts and wants to get rid of all of them because they destroyed his life. What I really enjoy is the different way I play as Copen. Instead of generating electric fields, speed dash attacks tag the enemies while your blasts homes in on the enemies for damage. He also has rocket boots which leads some interesting platforming and great traversal. After each boss, Copen absorbs the power associated with the boss (yes very similar to Mega Man) and can be used for later levels. The level design is more complex, the enemies have more variety, and the story is slightly better than the first game, but overall has the same formula. GV is still playable and the storylines intermixes between the characters. The highlight of this sequel was the addition of the Shovel Knight amiibo functionality. The Shovel Knight amiibo unlocks a boss level facing none other than… SHOVEL KNIGHT. And guys… he is so hard HAHA. But it was cool to see collaboration from Yacht Club Games. The second game also has a speed run mode unlock after you beat the main story. I cannot stress enough that this game gives you more ways to play by providing a set of challenges, modes, and different characters.

Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack was a nice 15-20 hour side scrolling experience (and honestly you can put in a lot more) with only a few annoyances like storytelling, dialogue translation, minimum enemy types, and random dialogue popups slightly blocking the level. These games have great gameplay balance, unique boss battles, and fantastic art style with a mix of light RPG elements.