2020 has seen a resurgence of the beat ’em up genre, with Streets of Rage 4 earning rave reviews, the Battletoads reboot finding some success, and the long-awaited return of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World on the horizon. Now Sobaka Studio has released its own beat ’em up for 2020 with 9 Monkeys of Shaolin, but fans of the genre may be better off sticking with some of the year’s other releases.
9 Monkeys of Shaolin is a standard beat ’em up experience, with most levels simply having players move from left to right, beating up any enemies that get in their path. The core combat of the game is actually quite fun, especially as players level up and unlock new abilities to extend their combos. There is a satisfying weight to the fights, and the parry mechanic makes it more involved than other games in the genre.
9 Monkeys of Shaolin supports both local and online co-op, which is always appreciated. However, the co-op play is where 9 Monkeys‘ flaws are exacerbated, dragging down the experience as a whole.
Co-op is a key component of virtually all beat ’em up games, but in 9 Monkeys of Shaolin, it’s undermined by various design choices. For instance, if players happen to fall down a pit during one of the game’s few platforming sections, the screen goes black and resets both players to the start. Any other game would simply have the player that fell respawn, so it’s hard to explain why 9 Monkeys handles it the way it does.
Circular levels are also an issue when playing 9 Monkeys co-op. The vast majority of the stages in the game are standard side-scrolling levels, but occasionally, players have to navigate circular levels where the camera only focuses on the first-player. This makes things needlessly difficult for the second player and can definitely be the source of some frustration. The circular level design is also used in the 9 Monkeys hub area, so players have to move together or else the second player may end up lost off-screen.
The 9 Monkeys hub area is where players upgrade their abilities, equip new weapons, and replay old missions. Unfortunately, none of the new items players collect in the game are really worth equipping. For example, players should be able to get through the entire game using the first bo staff. Unlocking new abilities is a different story, as players can acquire abilities that essentially make them invincible and allow them to cheese most fights. With the right upgrades, players can spam magic attacks and make it so enemies don’t even have a chance to strike.
But while 9 Monkeys fails to make the new weapons and collectibles exciting, it won’t be difficult for players to unlock it all anyway. In fact, most players will be able to unlock almost everything in a matter of hours. The game is short, with about 25 or so missions that only take around 5-10 minutes to complete on average, and there is unfortunately little to no replay value to convince players to keep playing after they’ve defeated the final boss.
Really the only reason to replay missions after beating them is to hunt for secrets, which are used to equip cheats and modifiers, like making enemies have small heads or giving stages an inverted color scheme. Whether or not the secrets are compelling enough for players to redo stages they’ve already completed is up for debate, but most will likely be satisfied with a single playthrough.
9 Monkeys‘ stages are a highlight of the experience. Each level in 9 Monkeys feels distinct from one another, oftentimes with a unique color scheme or level design quirk. This consistent variety goes a long way in keeping 9 Monkeys from getting stale, and its art style helps with that as well. While at first glance the graphics may seem somewhat bland, in-motion 9 Monkey‘s graphics do a great job of mimicking the feel of 70s-era martial arts films.
9 Monkeys of Shaolin‘s story is also inspired by 70s-era martial arts films. It’s a classic setup, as Wei Cheng’s friends and family are brutally murdered at the start of the game, sending him on a quest for vengeance. Wei Cheng enlists the aid of a group of monks, who then teach him martial arts as well as magical attacks. While it doesn’t break new ground, Wei Cheng’s character development is intriguing, as players get to see him not only evolve in terms of story, but gameplay as well. Wei Cheng’s progress is reflected by the cut-scenes, but also by how players are continuously leveling up and learning new skills.
The story in 9 Monkeys of Shaolin is pretty dark, and while much of it is conveyed through dialogue, some of the developments can be a little unsettling. But these dark story moments fit the game’s martial arts theme and make the story more engaging than one might expect. So while it’s unlikely players will feel compelled to complete 9 Monkeys of Shaolin for the sake of the gameplay, the story may be enough to convince them to do so.
Unfortunately, even getting through the game once can be a struggle, as 9 Monkeys of Shaolin is plagued by technical issues – at least when it comes to the Nintendo Switch version. The game crashed on numerous occasions during our time with it, and there was one stage in particular where enemies kept glitching off the screen and we were forced to restart to the level repeatedly.
Without these technical issues, 9 Monkeys of Shaolin would have been a middle-of-the-road beat ’em up game. But these glaring problems combined with its lack of replay value make it difficult to recommend even to the most diehard beat ’em up fans.
9 Monkeys of Shaolin launches October 16 for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Game Rant was provided with a Switch code for this review.
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