‘Go Mecha Ball’, more like Go Mecha HELL! YEAH! This hectic top-down, three-dimensional, twin-stick shooter, developed by Whale Peak Games and published by Super Rare Originals, will have you spending hours playing and saying, “Just one more run!”

Cat Rascal and her friends live on planet Spira and are all about having fun. When a mysterious portal appears and begins to rain chaos down on their planet, they are all forced to retreat underground. Unhappy, they research the portal and devise a way to enter it. They invent a mech suitable to withstand the chaotic energy, and with the mecha suit, they enter the portal to put a stop to the chaos and return the fun to their world.

Go Mecha Ball has lots of little nuances which all work well together and make for very addictive gameplay. Primarily, Go Mecha Ball is a roguelike twin-stick shooter, so if you are keen on either or both of those genres you are going to love this game.

To begin with, you will only have access to Cat Rascal and a limited number of weapons, abilities, and upgrades. As you battle enemies inside the portal, you will earn two types of currencies. The first is a gold diamond which is used for in-game use only. As you progress you will arrive at a shop where you can use that currency to unlock the other three characters, weapons, abilities, upgrades, and other useful items to aid you with your run.

I would recommend unlocking the other characters first as each one comes with differing strengths and weaknesses which will enhance your preferred play style. The other currency is a blue disc which is used exclusively out of the game back at your base. This currency allows you to unlock more weapons, abilities, and upgrades to use in the game. It is completely random what you will get from those three categories as you spend the currency on separate vending machines that work on a ‘gacha’ system.

Every run you do will play out the same way. You will begin in the first arena and battle the same enemies in three waves. Once those enemies are defeated a portal will open and you will move to another arena and repeat the process. Before starting the new arena, you will get to choose one of three randomly chosen options you’ve unlocked of either an ability or an upgrade. This will happen three times and then you will access the shop.

After the shop, you will then fight the boss, which is just like the arenas and enemies will always be the same. Once you have defeated the boss the process starts over on a new set of arenas, enemies, and boss. There are only four transitions of this formula, so repetitiveness is a genuine concern once you memorise the arenas, enemies, and bosses. The only difference you will get from run to run will be your choice of character, what weapons drop in the arenas for you to use, and the abilities and upgrades that appear during the run.

The arena combat is a lot of fun and even through its hectic moments keeping a cool head will always prevail. Holding down the left trigger will put you into ball mode allowing you to move faster. While in ball mode pressing the right trigger will make you boost which not only damages enemies if you run into them but also disrupts them if they are attempting to attack you and causes them to drop ammunition.

The enemy attacks come with a handy exclamation mark above them, so timing your boost is just as important as moving fast and getting ammunition. When not in ball mode using the right trigger will fire your weapon.

You can carry two weapons and swap them with the x button. The left and right bumpers activate abilities, so you can only have two like your weapons. Your left stick controls movement and your right stick aims your gun. Also, on top of all that, the environment is three-dimensional and has various blockades, speed pads, tunnels, ramps, bounce pads and walls to keep you thinking about where you are travelling.

Go Mecha Ball has an explosively colourful neon palette. The environment and models are just as vibrant with their smooth metallic appearance. Nothing becomes cluttered or distracting during the action allowing you to remain in control and see what’s happening.

The music matches the graphics with its sci-fi techno beats. It also hypes you up in battle matching the fast-paced action making you want to bop along. The sound effects, though not as impressive as the music, still contribute to the overall package. Enemies, weapons, surfaces, and alike all have distinctive sounds.

Go Mecha Ball is a fantastic roguelike, twin-stick shooter. Though the arenas, enemies, and bosses are repetitive, the large variety of weapons, abilities, and upgrades to unlock will have you playing for hours. With only the occasional glitch pausing the action like it’s trying to load something; Go Mecha Ball is well worth your time.

Written by: Ashley Barnett-Cosgrove