Guacamelee! Super Turbo Champion Edition for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Wii U.
For those who don’t know, Guacamelee! is an action platform video game developed and published by Drinkbox Studios. The game was originally released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in April 2013, and was later ported to Microsoft Windows in August 2013, and to OS X and Linux in February 2014.
Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition is an enhanced version of the original. It was released for Wii U, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox 360 in July 2014.
Story
In a small village in Mexico, Juan Aguacate is a humble agave farmer who is in love with El Presidente’s Daughter. When an evil charro skeleton named Carlos Calaca attacks the village and kidnaps El Presidente’s Daughter, Juan is killed during his attempt to stop him and winds up in the land of the dead. There, a mysterious luchador named Tostada gives Juan a mysterious mask that transforms him into a powerful luchador and brings him back to the world of the living. It is now up to Juan to stop Carlos from sacrificing El Presidente’s Daughter in a ritual that will allow him to take both the living and dead worlds.
Gameplay
In Guacamelee!, players control Juan as he fights his way across various enemies and obstacles in order to rescue El Presidente’s daughter. Juan can attack enemies using basic attacks and can perform various grapple attacks when they are stunned, dealing more damage or throwing them towards other enemies. Defeating enemies yields coins that can be spent at certain locations to unlock new grapple attacks or increase the player’s health and stamina gauges. As the player progresses through the game, Juan breaks various “Choozo statues” which grant him new abilities. These range from offensive moves, such as an uppercut, headbutt, and dashing punch, or abilities that increase Juan’s mobility, such as double jumping, wall jumping, and the ability to turn into a chicken. Juan also gains the abilities to transport between the land of the living and the land of the dead, required for solving puzzles or fighting enemies that can only be attacked in a certain world. Players can use these moves to access previously unreachable areas to find secrets, or break through barriers shielding enemies. The game (excluding the Vita version) also features a local co-operative mode, in which an additional player can play as Tostada. This mode can only be accessed after the introductory level.
Development
The game was originally released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in April 2013, with cross-buy support and additional missions and costumes released as downloadable content. Guacamelee!: Gold Edition, released on Steam in August 2013, includes the previously released DLC, as well as Steam Workshop support, allowing players to create their own character skins using Adobe Flash and share them online. This version was later released for OS X and Linux in February 2014. Guacamelee!: Super Turbo Championship Edition, which adds additional levels and bosses in addition to previous DLC, was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Wii U in July 2014.
Reception and Legacy
The original version of Guacamelee! was selected as a nominee at Indiecade in August 2012. The game was also nominated for the 2013 Independent Games Festival for Excellence in Visual Art. IGN gave the game a 9.0, citing that the game’s only misfire was the short length.
Juan will appear as a playable cameo character in the upcoming Wii U and PC game Hex Heroes.
