It’s rare to find an indie game with a visual style that completely blows me away, but all it takes is one look at Kidbash to understand why it’s won me over. The game almost looks like photo-realistic claymation while also absolutely oozing charm, reminding me of a Kirby game crossed with Earthbound. And having had a chance to preview the game recently, I’ve walked away very impressed by more than just its attractive aesthetic.
Kidbash is a 2D side-scroller rogue-lite that has you play as the titular character. The intro sets things in motion with him fighting a villain, only for someone named Hanachan to drop in and save the day. After getting the senses knocked out of him, Kidbash wakes up in a partially destroyed village and decides to fix up its buildings and stop the baddie that looms in a tower above.
It’s a pretty standard setup, admittedly, but the presentation makes it all work well. The game is positively brimming with character. There’s even a fisherman by the dock that lets you play a minigame designed to look like those crummy Tiger Electronics handhelds from the early 90s. It’s all incredibly cute.
Kidbash fights with a sword and blaster simultaneously. He can also dash, do a groundstomp, and use a mix move once a meter fills up. This basically allows him to mix both equipped weapons and transform for a time. The sword and blaster change into a sort of spiked shield that you throw around. It makes quick work of enemies and lasts long enough for you to clear the screen of anything that opposes you.
The general gameplay strongly reminded me of the Mega Man Zero series. I couldn’t help but be delighted by this, as that’s one of my all-time favorites. You can swap between shooting and slashing at foes this way, plus you’ll regularly get upgrades for either weapon. For instance, upgrading the blaster three times will change your single shot to a triple shot that also shoots diagonally.
As you fight through the game’s areas, you’ll often get a choice between what items or upgrades you’ll be aiming for at the end of each section. These vary between permanent items that you can use to improve things at your base and upgrades specifically for your current run. In the preview build, Kidbash can get fire or electric power-ups that change up his capabilities, but there will likely be even more cool options in the full game.
My favorite type of upgrade gives you one of these damage elements upon dashing through enemies. Your dash gives you i-frames normally, but using it to damage enemies in tandem with slashes makes for very satisfying gameplay. Meanwhile, you can upgrade Kidbash’s basic parameters, such as permanent increases to his health and damage, or letting his mix attacks heal him (which is especially useful once you upgrade it enough to matter).
It’s a pretty classic rogue-lite progression, as when you die in a run, you’re naturally taken back to the village sans all your coins but retaining all of your permanent upgrade components. Thankfully, it works excellently here without feeling too punishing or overwhelming.
This preview build did an excellent job of illustrating just what Kidbash has to offer, and I’m very much looking forward to fully jumping into the game when it launches next year.
