Life has not been easy for Travis Touchdown. Years after the events of No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle the former assassin is alone and cut off from every one. That does not mean he can not be found, especially by someone who has a good reason to find him. Grasshopper Manufacture changes the formula in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes and the result is a little bit of a mixed bag.
The person who finds him is Badman, father of Bad Girl who Travis dispatched. Both men are caught unaware when a gaming console sucks f them into the video game world. Travis and Badman will have to fight in different games in order to get out of the console.
No More Heroes has always been at it’s best when it was poking fun at pop culture and video games in general. The problem in this game is that the developers actually like the various different video games that Travis and Badman traverse. This takes a little bit of the bite off when the games are being parodied. On the plus side, if you know your indie game, there are quite a lot of Easter eggs for you to discover. The developers took the time to honor the games without saying exactly what they are.
The play style is also changed. While the hack and slash remains, the game is viewed from a top down perspective. No More Heroes was a fighting game, in the loose sense of the world, so this new play style is a little jarring. The game is still fun, and the fact that another player can control Badman at the same time makes this a game where two people can join in on the madness. The game’s controls, sounds and graphics mesh well in a world that changes every level.
I won’t say that Travis Strikes Again is a letdown. It is just different and respect must be given to the developers for trying something new. The biggest test of a game like this is if it was marketed as an original game, would people still play it? The answer is yes, and the fact that Travis is in it makes it so much better. With a game like this in the series, who knows where No More Heroes will go from here.
8/10
Available on Switch
