Kick Club is Hell
I have to admit, when I bought UFO 50 a year ago, I thought of the game as more of a novelty than a collection of fifty actual games with artistic intent and nuance. I completed a few games and earned a few cherries, but I never took the games too seriously. I took a long break from UFO 50, and resumed it again this week.
That feeling changed with Kick Club. Holy shit, this game is so hard and nuanced. I've been trying to beat this game for ten hours straight. It feels super simple to play at first, but the difficulty curve escalates so quickly that it makes me actually laugh at loud. I still haven't beaten it. I haven't even gotten close.
Level 2-9 is fucking bullshit (photo credit: Shadow the Past)
A few notes:
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This game is unbelievably unforgiving, and the smallest mistake will always cost you your life. You can earn 1ups by collecting points, but the game makes it very dangerous to earn them. Basically, to collect points, you have to do consistent combos on the enemies. The game punishes these combos by making the maps small and the enemy sprites massive, with the tiniest mistake nailing you. Collecting points for 1ups is so stressful because your lives count is always low! The amount of points you need to earn a 1up also makes it difficult to focus.
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To reiterate on my earlier points: both the player and enemy sprites are massive compared to the size of the map. The final stages have so many enemies that you must move delicately, because the smallest mistake will wreck you.
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Ironically, since the bosses are the only sprites on their respective maps, their rooms are usually the easiest to handle.
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It's super rare when it happens, but there's a ghost referee that pops up to kill you if you run out of time! Give me a break! I'm just trying to survive!
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The game expects you to understand the controls very quickly with no time to practice. This game's controls are surprisingly deep. You can dodge, headbutt, and use geometry to angle the soccer ball. They give you a learning curve, but it's one usually quick level per concept before the circus continues!
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I really have to respect the creator of this game. The graphics are so STUNNING that you almost don't mind how frustrating this game is. Most stages have a unique background and color scheme that helps you identify them. The music is hilariously short (replicating the era), but it never gets old. The boss tune is also adorable and bumbling.
What's funny to me is when I searched the UFO50 subreddit, Kick Club was barely mentioned. When it was mentioned, everyone talked about how hard it was. I think most people tried this game, thought it would be easy, and put it off "for the harder games." Don't write off Kick Club like I did. I will let you know when I beat this game.
World 3-4 is also bullshit (photo credit: Shadow the Past).