Another Ratalaika game is upon us! They always seem to push out games of different styles and Super Box Land Demake is a simple puzzle-based game – will it be any good?
Your objective is to move boxes onto switches to open a gate, which allows you to move onto the next area. You have to push a button to move the box, which is invaluable so you don’t move it with accidental knocks. If you do make a mistake you can rewind a couple of moves. Moving further back will use your battery power, which only restores at the start of each level (unless playing on easy where you have infinite battery power).
Of course, the way round this is to just go back to the main menu or back to a previous level and then you can start the level again without any penalty.
With roughly 100 levels to play through, they start very, very simple with not much thought required, but as you progress they do get harder (albeit still not very taxing). After 20 levels you get a random mini game where you have to fly a plane, shooting balloons and bombs. Whilst it doesn’t add much to the game, it’s a fun little side task that changes things up. There are small additional features added to this title too,;for example a speed-running mode where each of your levels are timed.
You can play with a friend in co-op mode, but the levels stay the same and become slightly simpler. I was expecting that they would be tougher, with scenarios that could only be solved with two people. They did miss a trick here because whilst it can be fun to solve puzzles with someone else, the simplicity of the levels means you’ll be breezing through them which can get boring pretty quick.
You can actually play co-op by yourself (in case you have no friends that you can coax into joining you) by controlling the two characters with different thumb sticks. This ultimately felt pointless and I found myself just using one character and leaving the other one sitting there like a lemon.
The game ran smoothly, no glitching or crashing. I love collecting achievements, so these are the kind of games I will always pick up. Yes, this one is very simple, but it’s also pleasing and more fun than others I have tried. The music is funky and definitely fits the 8-bit feel. The fact that there’s not much to it means it’s quite calming, in an adult colouring book kind of way.
Conclusion
Just like all these Ratalaika games, they are simple, repetitive and not very taxing. Playing with a friend can make this title less tedious but ultimately you know what you’re going to get – an easy ride to 1000g with little excitement.
This game was tested and reviewed on Xbox One. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version.Want to keep up to date with the latest Xt reviews, Xt opinions and Xt content? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.