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Pow Pixel Games slices its way onto the indie game scene with Abathor, an arcade-style throwback to fantasy belt scrollers of the ’80s and ’90s. It’s a pleasingly old-fashioned hack-‘n’-slash platformer that will conjure memories of childhood couch co-op.
Golden Axe is the obvious influence, despite the side-on perspective, but there are also shades of more recent pixelated homages. A heavy metal aesthetic recalls the dark fantasy of Slain and Blasphemous, though its tone is much lighter than those games. Character designs, power-ups, and enemies are ripped straight from genre media. Abathor wears these influences proudly. It isn’t trying to do anything different and it’s all the more entertaining for it.
The story is set in the mythical land of Atlantis, where mankind’s hubris has led to all manner of beasties flooding the world. A band of heroes must battle to close the gates of Abathor and send the demons back from whence they came. As well as being a fine excuse to use the word ‘whence’, explaining the plot is that easy. The game is built to jump in and get as far as you can with the lives you’re given – Pow Pixel wants to keep things as simple as possible. There is some lore text available to peruse in between levels, but nothing too deep.
Complexity emerges in your choice of hero, with each bringing a moveset that can significantly change the way you tackle Atlantis’ monster horde.
Barbarian Crantor has a large sword swing and a dodge roll that will get him through enemy attacks, which will be a familiar tactic for Dead Cells veterans. Sais favours sword and board, with a timed block able to deflect most incoming damage. Kritias, who has the coolest design, has a quick basic attack and a leaping slash. Finally, Azaes is the resident magic wielder – he can ‘soul plunder’ enemies to boost his attack.
All the main characters have utility, their unique abilities making specific situations smoother than it would be for the other three heroes. Crantor’s roll is perhaps most useful as it applies to any encounter. Sais’ block is a frequent lifesaver, though it can’t deflect everything. Kritias and Azaes take longer to master, their abilities requiring several runs to tease out the benefits.
Alongside the hero skill level, there are traditional difficulty levels. These drastically reduce the amount of credits (a concept that adds to that arcade feel) you are given before a game over screen awaits you.
Outside of basic attacks and hero abilities, you’ll find summons scattered around the levels. These are designed to get you out of a tight spot and often come in the form of screen-filling weapons of mass destruction. Some are smaller but more useful, like the little totem that floats around taking ranged shots at enemies, or floating heads that home in on targets. You only get one slot to bank these summons, so the temptation is always to save a good one for a boss fight.
As for those boss encounters, they adhere to the old arcade tradition of terrifying, colossal monstrosities. Each zone ends with Krakens, screen-filling lava beasts, spectral knights, and everything else your nightmares can conjure. These climatic beasties complement a healthy selection of normal enemy designs.
Taking on the evil running amok in Atlantis is perfectly viable solo, but the big draw here is four-player co-op. The old arcade titles Abathor aims to emulate were always more fun with friends and that remains true here. It’s great fun to cut a swathe through monsters as a team, mixing each character’s unique ability, and letting loose multiple summons. It makes some of the boss fights much more manageable, too.
There is a reward system based around kills, which totals up after each level. The player with the most kills gets the prize, not unlike the crown in Super Mario 3D World. That’s the only competitive element, the game leaves it up to you to chastise those not pulling their weight.
In the spirit of teamwork, lives are shared across the party and only depleted when everyone wipes. Striking checkpoint crystals around the levels will bring other players back. You can gleefully relive all those times another player got the blame for that Game Over screen.
It’s not all rose-tinted nostalgia, though. Combat is often at odds with the restricted movements of the player sprite. Jumping feels heavy, and the verticality of some of the levels does not mix well with managing enemy attacks. You could end a run early just by trying to hit a group of bats while dangling from a rope. This is, however, faithful to the hard-as-nails experiences of yesteryear.
It would also be nice to have some modern quality-of-life improvements in the campaign progression. Levels are made up of themed zones, each of which contains multiple stages. Vendors along the way sell upgrades and special items to spend your gold on. Reloading a save takes you back to the beginning of a zone, without any of the upgrades you’ve purchased since the beginning of your run. Co-op must be selected from the main menu only, so if you’re deep into a solo run and you want a friend to join, you will have to sacrifice upgrades and stage progress in order to bring them in.
Despite these odd design omissions, Abathor is a successful approximation of the arcade-style scrolling action games from coin-op and early console generations.
Conclusion
An ode to the arcade hack-‘n’-slash genre, Abathor offers an old-school experience, for better and worse. There’s extra novelty in taking the four-player co-op anywhere with an undocked Switch, simple controls mean that four Joy-Con are more than comfortable, and the gorgeous pixel art looks great on the smaller screen. It sounds great, too, and co-op is huge fun with a few couch-based adventurers.