I’m kind of surprised that Sega hasn’t made a decent Sonic game in the endless runner genre. Wait, no I’m not. Sega has seemed incapable of capturing the particular magic that made the original games work, and now, it may be too late. That’s because I just watched the trailer for DYNABOT: The Robo Marble, and I think Sonic would face some heavy competition in the genre even if Sega could put together a decent game now.
Now, I typically do not care about endless runners one bit. Not. One. Bit. Still, I decided to give Dynabot‘s trailer a look, and I’m pretty happy I did. The game looks really solid, taking a lot of the ideas I liked in the Sonic the Hedgehog series and applying them to the endless runner genre. The platforming looks good, and the neat loop-the-loops, upside down tracks, and enemies all give it a bit more variety than I’m used to seeing from the genre. Combat and attack moves add a little bit more to make the game interesting, as do the challenge rooms and other mini-games, but I think it was the surfing that sold me. I have no idea why, but surfing is just so powerfully 90’s rad that the game gets an instant pass from me just for having it. Being able to do tricks on your surfboard is a nice touch, too.
The devs, Level-1 Games, are really taking the endless runner genre to exciting new places, adding lots of stuff to make the games appeal to me. They need a couple of bucks to finish the job on the game, though, and have started up a kickstarter to get the necessary funds. If the trailer’s any indication of the quality of the end product, I think DYNABOT: The Robo Marble may set a new bar for the genre when it comes out.
God damn, surfing is rad.
