Ra Ra Boom Review (PC)

After a brief hands on of Ra Ra Boom back in July, I’d been keen to get back to it and see what the remaining levels and experience would bring. Thankfully, the style and flair remain in this full release, with later levels offering up even more vibrant levels and designs. I wasn’t totally sold on the combat at the off in the preview, but having now played the game it definitely feels more enjoyable to play, albeit with the caveat of needing a few upgrades before we get to where I felt truly comfortable.

If you’ve not seen Ra Ra Boom before now, it can be summed up in the most basic terms as ‘Streets of Rage meets Cheerleading’.That’s reductive, but it gets the idea across. A scrolling beat-em-up/shooter, we move through levels beating up as many enemies as we can find before a climatic showdown at the end with a boss. Levels are nicely varied, from arcades to sewers and robot graveyards, and each one smartly implements the game’s Lane System within its design.

This Lane System is something we called out in the preview, and it is a way to make 2D fighting and shooting on a multiplane area easier. As you’ll see in the screenshots on the page here, the floor is divided into strips, each representing a lane that enemies and players alike inhabit. Other games of this ilk tend to have freer movement in this aspect which can make lining up attacks tricky at times, but this lane system is a quick way to tell if we’re directly in front of an enemy or not. In the heat of the action it’s still easy to misjudge, but it’s also far quicker to figure out where we need to go to rectify this. One boss battle in particular features a giant robot with several points of attack that span several lanes. Using these, it was much easier to figure out where to attack rather than just spraying and praying. It’s a great touch that will help new and old players alike.

One thing I feel that I didn’t give enough credit in the preview for this was the shooting system. As a brawler fan, I’ve always gone in fists and feet swinging, but Ra Ra Boom equips each of the four playable characters with different projectile attacks. Especially later in the game this comes in handy as enemies swarm us, and it’s often better to stand back a bit and deal some chip damage before going in for a close up brawl. Aris’ machine gun is the easiest to use, but others – such as Saida’s rocket launcher – are a saving grace with extra damage. It changes the flow of combat nicely, and gives us a bit of an excuse for some breathing room. 

Which is handy as one thing I’m still not totally sold on is the damage recognition. I found my lifebar could easily deplete without me even really seeing I was being that badly damaged. When we have several fast moving robots on top of us, as well as the pizazz of the special effects going off, it’s all too easy to be killed before we know what even hit us. Playing solo means we can just pick one of the other girls left in our party and carry on, but it happened just a few times too many. A little audible indicator of low health or a brief window of invulnerability to try and dodge might have helped here perhaps. It’s not a massive issue, just something that caught me off guard more than I’d expect in games like this.

Melee combat is still fun to use though, even if in the early game we are pretty weak. Each of the girls has a different feel to combat, and requires different approaches. Aris is speedy but weaker, whereas Vee hits like a truck but is slow to respond. I liked mixing it up though overall I found Aris suited my style best. 

Defeating enemies drops scrap that can then be used at the gear shop to upgrade the party as a whole. I much appreciate this approach rather than individual upgrades as it lets the full team benefit which is great for multiplayer – no arguments over who collects scrap or who gets a buff, instead the shared pool or resources and upgrades keeps everyone on a level playing field. When we start the game we get a random few upgrades to start us off, but later ones cost increasing amounts of scrap to purchase. Luckily, Gylee Games are pretty generous with this and even if we die we can bank our scrap and continue. I was able to buy all upgrades available by the end of the 8th level with plenty of scrap to spare (make sure to buff your Luck stat early as this will increase scrap and item drop rates). 

There’s a reason to buff right up too, as beating the nine levels on offer isn’t the end of Ra Ra Boom. Each level has four ‘homework assignments’ to complete. The first playthrough is simply to get to the end, with the next introducing modifiers such as only melee or only gun attacks. These are a great way to go back and experience the levels again without doing the exact same thing again, and will put our skills to the test for sure. 

Top all this off with some bright, colourful visuals and a great soundtrack and Ra Ra Boom is a solid contender in what is a crowded and tough genre.

Conclusion

Ra Ra Boom is a fun, colourful scrolling brawler/shooter that has plenty of charm and good replay value. Some small niggles in the combat and early game power levels aside, this is one for those looking for some couch co-op brawling good times.

This game was tested and reviewed on PC (via Steam). All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by the publisher.