Colossus Down is a direct sequel to MechaNika, which was released in 2015. MechaNika followed seven-year-old Nika on her quest to destroy anything in the world she didn’t perceive as awesome. In order to do this, she needed to build a mecha-suit, and that was pretty much the premise. Colossus Down is the story of what happens once Nika builds her suit and begins eradicating the world of everything that is boring. Instead of sticking with the same point and click style of the first game, developers Mango Protocol have decided for a very different genre this time around: beat ‘em up.

I never played the first entry into the franchise, and the sequel doesn’t do the best job of explaining what you’ve missed. But honestly, it’s not that complicated, making sense due to its simple nature. What really matters with a game like this is how good it feels to play, and it sadly doesn’t feel great. That’s not to say that it is broken, it’s just repetitive and dull. The gameplay is very generic, lacking any real variety despite how much potential there is with a big beefy mech suit. There are new powers you can unlock, yet they don’t add much to keep things fresh and interesting, primarily because the moment to moment is mundane.

It’s surprising that the gameplay is lacklustre at best because the game is very pleasing aesthetically. The art style is akin to something like Rick and Morty or a hyper-violent Adventure Time, which is totally perfect for this type of game. The levels, despite not being interesting to wade through, are fascinating to look at. As you progress, the game continues to mix up the backgrounds.

One of the most interesting things about Colossus Down are the decisions it has you make along the way. As you continue to progress through the story, you will have to decide on certain things. I won’t spoil them, as they’re probably the best thing about the game, and these decisions can have genuinely huge implications on how you continue to play.

Another way to make the game increasingly compelling is to play through it with a pal. In single-player, you will only ever have the option to play as MechaNika. Yet if you add another player, they will play as Agatha Knife. There is no real difference in how the two of them play despite one being a 7-year-old in a mechsuit and the other a swine deity.

By this point it’s pretty clear Colossus Down doesn’t really take itself seriously, and thematically the whole package is working in unison to prove it. The art style is incredibly well suited to its humorous and comical tone. All of this just makes it an even greater shame that the whole package is so severely let down by the banal gameplay. 

There is no denying that Colossus Down had huge potential, especially for fans of the first game, yet it just falls short. The art style and humorous tone aren’t enough to justify playing Colossus Down. However, if you are a fan of MechaNika, then it’s certainly nice to see what happens in her struggle to destroy what’s boring in the world.