Super Man Or Monster – Review
Follow Genre: Action, Adventure, Indie
Developer: Xform
Publisher: Xform
Platforms: PC

Super Man Or Monster – Review

Site Score
8.5
Good: You get to play as or against your favorite city wrecking monster
Bad: No story
User Score
9.8
(5 votes)
Click to vote
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 9.8/10 (5 votes cast)

Just like superhero movies are all the rage in Hollywood these days, there used to be a time monster movies were everywhere. From Godzilla to King Kong, we used to love seeing enormous creatures attack major metropolitan cities around the world, preferably with a skyscraper to climb or lay eggs in. Now a hidden egg has hatched and what was once a browser game now grew up and became a full blown game. Super Man or Monster originally started off as browser game and it’s now playable on Steam as well.

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Story

So one day a huge monster drops out of the sky and starts wrecking all major cities around the world. Why? Just because it can. One man or better a super man can save us, he doesn’t wear a cape or a fancy emblem on his chest, he doesn’t have an obvious disguise but he protects the world from monsters nevertheless. This game’s story is like clothes on the monster, absent. Why do we enjoy wrecking a town or climbing a huge skyscraper? Because we can and it’s fun. The lack of story is not an issue, trying to explain the existence of the monster or the reasons why the super man defends cities around the world might not work and distract from the pure fun this game offers.

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Graphics

The graphical style of Super Man Or Monster can best be compared to Minecraft and LEGO. If you are familiar with either of those, you’ll instantly recognize and appreciate how the game looks. Everything from the monster and the super man to the water and the buildings is made out of blocks. If you ever had a chance to go to LEGOLAND and see the dinosaurs made out of Lego bricks you might recognize the monster of this game among them. Just like Minecraft the game uses bright and contrasting colors however this game feels older and has more of an old-school vibe. The customization of the characters and more specifically the monster is very satisfying in creating a fun/dangerous looking monster. The model of the super man is less interesting as the one of the monster, he doesn’t look very super compared to the monster, which is obvious as he is tiny compared to the monster. However this scale works very well when you play as the super man you literally have to look to the sky if you want to look at the monster’s face.

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Sound

In general the music is upbeat and does a good job in building the tension, whether you are the monster wrecking the town or the human hero defending it. The background music has an old-school chiptune vibe. Sound effects from shooting, bashing and explosions sound unique enough so you can distinguish them in the middle of the monster town wrecking madness. A nice touch on the monster quests is when you finish a level you can let out your monster roar.

Gameplay

Super Man Or Monster is an action adventure game. The game features two modes, a single player campaign that takes you on a tour around the world in which you destroy or defend famous cities depending on whether you play as man or monster. On the other hand there is a local split-screen multiplayer in which you and a friend can battle each other as man versus monster.

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When you play the monster, the goal of the game is to destroy an entire city and occasionally find a coin to upgrade your powers. Both you and the city have a health bar and you need to deplete it before yours runs out, as a city can have several defense mechanisms in place. You have a small range of melee attacks involving your claws, feet and tail and several special attacks in the likes of fireballs, dashes, body slams and yes, farts. If you are a monster the size of a skyscraper your farts turn into weapons of mass destruction as well. Special moves are limited per city and you need to buy more charges in-between cities.

If you decide to play as the man you get a small head start of sixty seconds to prepare the defenses before the monster arrives. It’s advisable to start placing tanks and turrets on rooftops so when the monster arrives you can start hitting it as soon as possible, of course each weapon has a maximum range but the monster will come close enough at some point if he wants to destroy the entire city. You can at any time use your jetpack to get around town faster to respond to the monster’s attack. You can build more turrets and vehicles on the move and if you feel like it you can man and or pilot any turret or vehicle you created.

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When you play a local split-screen match you’ll notice not everything is balanced, this is not a big issue however sometimes the man might just get one shotted by the monster and loose, sometimes the monster might get in an awkward position and lose because of it. Since you’re playing with a friend it doesn’t cause that many problems, if it were online against strangers this would be a much bigger problem.

As far as customization goes you have several options to modify the look and feel of your monster on top of the premade monsters you start with. Several iconic monsters make an appearance in the game, such as Godzilla and King Kong lookalikes. The game difficulty increases steadily over time when cities you attack with the monster have better defences and the monsters attacking the cities become stronger.

Conclusion

Super Man Or Monster is a very enjoyable action game in both single and local multiplayer modes. The lack in story is not an issue as the game draws you in with its beautiful retro graphics and ditto chiptunes. The game has minor balance issues between the man and the monster and it may once in a while cause you to lose a game. This is not a big issue as the matches are short and there is no real penalty for losing besides having to replay a map. If you feel like blowing off some steam, give this game a try.

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 9.8/10 (5 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: +2 (from 2 votes)
Super Man Or Monster - Review, 9.8 out of 10 based on 5 ratings
Rex


I am an Illustrator/Artist who studies Concept Art and Game Design in my free time. Designing things is in my blood and I am always very curious in making games. Motivated and dedicated to become better in every way I can. You only live once and I intend to fully enjoy it! As for gaming itself I do prefer to play the following games: FPS, RPG, Action Adventure Games, Fighting Games, Hack and Slash.

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