Developer: Spilt Milk Studios
Publisher: Mastertronic
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Tango Fiesta – Review
Tango Fiesta is an action-packed top-down cooperative shooter developed by Split Milk Studios. The game allows the players to relive the multiple disastrous events of an action hero, who has truly seen it all and done it all, in a single player mode, a local co-op mode and even a multiplayer mode.
Story
The narrative is an important feature of Tango Fiesta as this is where a large part of the action already takes place, at least in a sense. The storyline is told by a senior action hero and the events he participated in are the levels you will be replaying. This makes up for some goofy starts which makes the action-packed gameplay somewhat lighter if that is even possible.
John Strong, the narrator, has toppled evil dictators, eliminated traitors and even destroyed aliens, at least that is what he claims. He goes back in time – or he remembers it – either way, his fiancée who also happens to be the President’s daughter has been kidnapped by Gordon Benette. His demands are not something John Strong wants to agree to and he goes off to face the rabble of peasants. This is where you come in as you’ll be the one facing the military horde as one of the six available characters.
Graphics
Tango Fiesta is clearly inspired by the classic 80s arcade twin-stick shooter games and the retro stylization hits right in the nostalgic feels of most players. The entire theme gets backed up with even more 80s action movie influences. All of this is visible within the first second of entering the game. Its 2D-like cartoon styled top-down view is easy to play with, although certain enemies can be harder to spot due to the color choices but it’s not something overly annoying.
The user interface has been kept simple and has about the right size to not disturb the gameplay experience. It’s also easy to tell what the icons stands for, a feature highly welcomed in the explosive action-packed game.
Sound
The soundtrack is another ode to the classic action heroes with its upbeat rockish sound ambiance. While the game does have quite some storytelling, the lack of voice-overs while doing so is terrible considering that they have an amazing German accent in the “store” shouting out the names of the guns and other weapons. There also seems to be an audio bug in the level select menu. If you select a level too fast, you’re forced to listen to a broken record audio sound for a bit but the game does load.
Gameplay
Tango Fiesta can be played with the traditional keyboard and mouse, or the controller. Either option works fine and both are very responsive. If you don’t find the default keys intuitive, you can always change the lay-out to your own liking. As the game is a twin-stick shooter, the developers have chosen to use 8-directional shooting controls. While this is a great choice, it doesn’t feel very dynamic. Perhaps we have simply been spoiled with the finer controls in other games but you’ll grow accustomed to the fixed directions.
As mentioned earlier there are six characters you can choose from before jumping into the missions. The health pools, speed, accuracy and stamina varies for each character but the most overpowered one is certainly the Bionic Cop which is a clear reference to RoboCop. After that, you can choose a primary weapon, a secondary weapon and a thrown weapon such as the grenade. You’ll also be able to melee enemies in-game but melee weapons aren’t part of the customization. Additional weapons can be unlocked by playing the game as best as you can. Some unlock when you play a certain character, others can be unlocked by defeating bosses. Quite a few can be bought with golden coins but more about that later.
Tango Fiesta currently has three game modes: single player, local co-op and multiplayer. The latter one is a fine addition to the game if it would attract players. Unfortunately it doesn’t. Finding a hosted game is nearly impossible. Hosting one yourself is another possibility but it’s a waste of time if there isn’t anyone to join you. Due to this, the game is better played in local co-op games.
The gameplay itself is very simple. As a real-life action hero, you’ll be thrown into a battle zone where you are tasked to complete one or more objectives. It’s easy to dodge any incoming bullets and head straight for the objectives but the enemies will spawn endlessly and can be hard to defeat in larger groups. If you’ve done good, you’ll be rewarded with golden coins, which you can use to buy more weapons. Once in a while, your mission will require you to defeat a boss which is accompanied by groups of enemies. While this may sound incredibly difficult, they are fairly easy to down if played somewhat tactically. That is all there is to the game really.
Conclusion
Tango Fiesta is a game that brings out the nostalgic feels in many players but even with its retro stylized visuals and clear reference to classic 80s action movies and their hero’s, the game doesn’t quite stand out. It’s good and packs a punch but it simply doesn’t pack enough punch to be epic. To top it off, the game has an online multiplayer mode but the game is best played in single-player or local co-op modes as the player-base is nearly non-existent for online plays.
Tango Fiesta - Review,
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