PwerlvlAmy

User Score
6.5

Presentation - 6.5
Gameplay - 6.5
Value - 6.5

(Originally reviewed: Dec 2017)

Squareboy vs Bullies Arena Edition,this game is published and developed by Ratalaika Games. The game is an action arcade beat em up,long to the days of Streets Of Rage and Final Fight. 

In Squareboy vs Bullies Arena Edition you play as Squareboy,a little boy who constantly gets bullied by his older peers. Day after day they pick on him and punch and kick him just because they feel empowered. Its just not fair to the little guy.

One day as you are confronted by the band of bullies that hate you,you are rendered unconscious and pass out after their latest attack. Upon awakening, you notice you are not in a familiar place,you're now inside of a dojo of a martial arts master. Its at this point you realize that the bullies must pay for what they did to you and to anyone else they chose pick on,so you join up with the Dojo sensei to learn how to fight and finally put these bullies in their place!

Gameplay:

As Squareboy you push yourself through 13  levels of arcade beat em up action. You make your way from left to right on each level taking down hordes of enemy bullies who stand in your path. Enemy variety types range from bullies that just use their punches and kicks,to bat or chain wielding bullies and even baseball throwing bullies. 

If you've played older beat em up games then you know its a good idea to constantly be on the move when attacking enemy bullies,never let them get behind you or else you will get juggled around and take a ton of damage. If you get in a tight spot,jump away or use a jump kick in order to give yourself more space to attack.

Being able to judge what an enemy type is and how much health they have is very simple. Much like in older beat em up games of the past, an indicator of an enemies strength and abilities depends on a color they're wearing. For example in this game the bullies baseball caps will range from colors such as Red or Green,which will be an indicator of how strong they are compared to normal hatless bullies you encounter. Even their hair color tends to change.

The fighting in this game feels very satisfactory. Its mindless and very straight forward,but it just feels so dang good to punch bullies in the face or to fly through the air and  land that cool looking jump kick to the side of their head to send them flying away.  Putting together combination attacks by pressing up and attack will allow to hit the enemy with an uppercut and down and attack will allow you to hit the bullies with a powerful kick. Experiment between moves to try to figure out what attacks work against specific bullies.

Like any beat em up of old,at the end of specific stages you will encounter a boss fight. These boss fights are relatively easy and they don't really feel any different than any other bully fight in the game and also  don't offer any real variety. Its definitely something that let me down when playing the game.

Replayability: 

If you've completed the story but dont quite want to quit playing just yet then feel free to grab a friend and tell them to sit their butt down and have some good ol couch op. Yes that's right. Squareboy vs Bullies Arena Edition on Switch has a two player co op mode that you and your friends can team up in and punch bullies in their ugly faces together and there's nothing more satisfying that that!

In the Switch version of this game,you also have an Arena mode. This mode acts as sort of a survival mode or an endurance mode. You play across multiple stages and defeat hordes of enemies until all your health is drained and you cannot continue anymore. You must defeat a specific amount of enemies per stage to be able to move onto the next one you wish to try. There are 4 total arena mode levels that are available to play should you make it that far.

Overall thoughts:

At the end of the day Squareboy vs Bullies Arena Edition is a good,but not quite great, beat em up in the Nintendo Switch library. It doesn't set the world on fire with originality with the arcade style fighting,or with its music and boss fights. But it does offer a short but fun story of a boy who overcomes his bullies and proves anyone can stand up to their bullies and show them they're not afraid.  Its both charming and simplistic and for $5 on the Nintendo eshop, I say give it a go if you have the time.

https://www.gamenchickgaming.com/blog/league-of-evil-and-squareboy-vs-bullies-arena-edition-reviews-switch