Okinawa Rush Test – Blows for Blows

After having had the opportunity to test the unexpected Ganryu 2, we stay with the same publisher, PixelHeartto focus on Okinawa Rush. Developed by the little-known studio Sokaikan, it’s a very old school 2D Beat’Em All that draws its influence from Streets of Rage, Kung Fu Master but also of street fighteramong others.

Featuring three well-defined martial arts styles (karate, shaolin kung-fu and wing chun), you will have to fight the Black Mantis clan in a story highlighted by pixel-art cutscenes. While there is a main story, each character has their own objective and this leads the game to offer several unlockable endings.

Test condition: Game tested on Nintendo Switch, we completed the story for the first time in just 3 hours. To fully explore the software and unlock the various endings, we are approaching 10 hours of play.

shaolin vs ninja

Okinawa Rush is a neo-retro game. If it proudly pays homage to the Beat’Em All 2D of the 16-bit generation, it also takes advantage of current technical possibilities to enrich the whole. A bit like Streets of Rage 4 compared to its predecessors. This modernization work is of course found in the aesthetics, with a pixel art of the most beautiful effect, but also in the care given to details and animations. Because, despite only five levels to go through, each one shines with the beauty of its environments, both striking and carefully detailed.

There is a real atmosphere that emanates from Okinawa Rush, we are totally on board from start to finish. And it would be nothing without the effort made on the animations. Whether for our characters or the enemies, the movements are fluid, readable and realistic in all circumstances. The bestiary is rather diversified, and visually successful, then the slightly coarse touch in the chara design of the characters is consistent with the tone of the software. Even in his writing, the title of Sokaikan throws itself with conviction into the second degree, there is no question of taking itself seriously.

Although the story is relatively simplistic, as in many films of the genre, the characters allow themselves some sympathetic dialogues that can recall B series films. heroes which refer just as much to the 70s to 90s. As well as given the excesses of violence and the fact of being able to literally explode the enemies under our blows, there is a rather enjoyable madness in Okinawa Rush.

The Golden Swallow

The feeling of the fights is great, we really feel the blows, it’s very punchy. In addition, the characters have a range of very satisfying blows and which enjoys an excellent transcription of martial movements. It is easy to differentiate the fighting styles from one hero to another, in addition to being able to recognize them, as evidenced by the wing chun and its machine gun punches popularized in the films ofIp-Man with Donnie Yen. It will also transcend itself thanks to a good depth of gameplay.

Not to mention the various combos and techniques that we learn to handle and which may require performing manipulations straight from fighting games. Don’t worry, it’s still affordable, it’s not about circular arcs, rather directions like in a Mortal Kombat. This gives body to a game design obviously centered around martial arts. In doing so, the challenge is there in order to encourage us to properly master his character. With its plethora of accessible difficulty modes, it’s easy to find a well-balanced experience.

That said, getting by with the roster will not be the most difficult, in the sense that it is possible to participate in a training mode that guides us for the basics. On the other hand, there is real room for improvement for the players. If the enemies will arrive in groups and certain traps will kill you instantly, you can take advantage of various weapons to pick up (nunchaku, katana, etc.). What always enrich the confrontations and avoid falling into redundancy. In addition, the levels are not free of secret places and other little bonuses to find. Finally, on the boss side, not really any false notes either. The confrontations are fun and the situations varied.

Deadly threesome

Despite all this, getting started is very simple, with only two attack keys and one dedicated to jumping. The latter also allows you to make incredible leaps. However, you lose irreparable maneuverability in the air. As well as in realism, so to speak, compared to other animations. Voluntary or not on the part of the developers, it’s quite confusing at first, although we finally get used to it fairly quickly. Even if only five courses are available and therefore a variety of environments is ultimately limited, it’s hard not to be left hungry in front of Okinawa Rush.

And this despite the three playable characters. Nevertheless, the developers wanted to enhance their game with some content. It will go through survival mode and arcade mode. Relatively basic and known modes, borrowed from fighting games, but still pleasant to do, especially given the quality of the gameplay here. For the arcade, it is neither more nor less the same thing as the story mode, less the tutorials and narrative elements. This allows you to go through the levels quietly without downtime. In what brings a little content, there is also a merchant from whom it is possible to buy amulets, which will boost your statistics, or even to acquire decorative objects in order to personalize your training room.

Note that by combining the right items you can earn significant bonuses. That’s not all, since the software embeds pseudo mini-games used to illustrate Kata training. It will suffice to press a key at the right time or to execute a small QTE. Without revolutionizing anything, it brings freshness to the title which is teeming with good ideas. Add to that really engaging and cool music, totally in keeping with the game’s universe. Then the sound effects are not left out. Apart from some somewhat kitsch but potentially legitimate sound effects, everything manages to infuse what it takes to get us involved in the experience.