Bat Boy is basically Shovel Knight with a baseball bat instead of the iconic shovel. You got a classic 8-bit platforming gameplay split up between stages, a plethora of abilities, bosses, optional levels and a health/stamina upgrade mechanic. Sounds cool, right?

Unfortunately, unlike Shovel Knight, Bat Boy's weaknesses show up relatively fast. There's not much incentive to use most of your abilities save for a few of them (the invincibility bubble basically makes every boss and platforming challenge trivial), the story's very so-so, uninteresting cast of characters, meta progression is boring and there's almost no side content or meaningful collectibles.

But the most glaring issue to me was how the game underutilizes its main mechanic: batting. Aside from reflecting projectiles thrown by enemies and into switches, that's basically all there is. For a game with such heavy emphasis on baseball, they should definitely have invested more into this concept.

If you love Shovel Knight like me, perhaps you'll come to like Bat Boy as well for its creative level design filled with different gimmicks, classic platforming gameplay and beautiful pixel graphics. But don't go expecting the same level of polish and brilliantism - otherwise you're bound for disappointment.

A highlight of this game is the boss weaponry. Unlike Megaman and Shovel Knight, where boss weapons must be equipped from a pause menu, Batboy has access to all upgrades at all times. The player simply has to learn what button combinations are used to activate it. After beating a boss, the player is able to learn how the boss weapon works by completing a small platforming challenge. These challenges are a great way to teach the nuances of the weapons, since they can be used effectively in both combat and platforming.

The rest of the game is fun too, with catchy music, fun level themes, and engaging level design. It could be argued that the game takes a bit too much from Shovel Knight (some of the level themes in the late game are remarkably close), but it's all of a high quality. Honestly, my only issue is that the grounded swing attack should have more range. I often found myself using the air attack instead of the grounded swing attack just because it was more reliable.

While it doesn’t offer anything particularly new to the “throwback 8-bit platformer” genre that’s so prevalent in the indie scene today, Bat Boy excels thanks to its satisfying platforming action complemented by a host of modern conveniences. Stages are thoughtfully designed to challenge your skills, boss fights are intense and rewarding, and the art and music propping up the experience scratches that particular retro itch quite well.

Full Review: https://neoncloudff.wordpress.com/2023/08/02/now-playing-july-2023-edition/

Come già hanno scritto alcuni sono stati troppo cattivi, il gioco è una sintesi di altri titoli come per l'appunto shovel knight/alcuni megaman e sicuramente questo è più un malus che altro però rimane molto divertente nel gameplay. Non ci sono fasi di platforming in cui usi chissà quali skills, infatti molti poteri sono superflui. La materia per fare un secondo titolo meglio costruito, anche sempre tenendosi sull'essenziale, c'è e per questo mi auguro di vedere altri titoli. Il lato migliore per me rimane l'artstyle e tutti i design in generale