Guts ‘N Goals (Nintendo Switch) – The test

I’m talking to you about a time that people under twenty can’t know about, my room at that time displayed posters, which no longer have a reason to exist. Blablabla, all that all that, La Bohème is very good, but let’s talk a little seriously about my Amiga 500. Who said “what else”? Be careful, I have a long ear and a thin arm my fellows. In short, let’s talk about a game that will unfortunately remain forgotten for a long time by the crowds, namely Brutal Sports Football. A game that sent us to face barbarian hordes by playing American football with blunt objects, in other words a game of a finesse still rarely unequalled. Well Guts’n Goals from the Spanish developer CodeManu, it’s quite simply the spiritual son of Brutal Sports Football and it’s time to address the subtlety of it, if so we are going to find some…

A Twin Stick football

When we start Guts’n Goal for the first time, we come to a menu with many features blocked. We only have two choices left, start a competition as a solo player or start a game with friends, for those who have it available of course. Being short of peanuts, we had to fall back initially on this story mode which puts us in the shoes of a member of a football team armed with a blunt femur.

We then begin a journey of matches and rest. Each win will take us to the next step in our quest for the glory of a Finals triumph. Matches can take place, randomly, in different modes. First there is the 3V3 in which our character, accompanied by 2 randomly chosen software-controlled bots, faces a team of three characters who are also supported by the game. The goal of these matches is to put two goals within the time limit.

During this match, all shots are allowed and also recommended. Our femur in hand, we have to kick the ball to make it move forward, but above all we have to hit our opponents to clear the ground and open the way to the goal. We have three types of attacks for this. First there is the simple, practical, effective and fast strike, this is followed by a charged strike which doubles the damage, but which requires preparation time, which can also be done while moving.

Like a Twin Stick Shooter, we must direct our avatar through the left stick while the right allows us to orient the direction we want to give our attack. The latest available attack takes advantage of this control system even more. Each character has a special technique. Whether it’s throwing a boomerang bone, for the first avatar we have, or throwing a bomb for one of the following, we have to direct our attack wisely so as not to waste it and have to wait for it to recharge.

Content full of surprises

Between two matches, stages in the form of mini-games entertain us. For example, it will be necessary to put an end to an invasion of zombies more quickly than our opponent, to paint more land than him, to destroy his crystal before he destroys ours. There are still many other activities and they all have in common to pleasantly renew our gaming experience. The matches that follow do the same by varying the size of the teams. We will thus have to emerge victorious from games in 2V2 in 1V1, or even in 1V2.

Note that the defeat is not punitive in this mode, since it is always possible to resume where we lost, which allows to finish victorious after a few attempts. Fortunately, moreover, because we quickly realize that the characters we have to face do not all have the same special abilities and that some hurt much more than others and that it is better to have them in our team. Meeting them also allows us to see how CodeManu has sought to give substantial content to its title. With no less than 35 different characters and therefore as many special abilities, there is plenty to enjoy.

These characters are unlocked as we progress and the matches we make. These also have different skins that we can also unlock, or buy with the currency earned during the matches. Losing a match earns us a minimum of it while finishing MVP of the match doubles the bet. It is unfortunate that the conditions for becoming one are not very clear. Being the author of the two winning goals is in no way a guarantee of finishing as the best player in a match.

One mode to rule them all

We can also buy skins for our weapons, this does not change their range or the damage they cause, but we must admit that going into battle with a wand, a pirate saber, a scythe or a flower is when even much classier than a simple femur. And this is how we end our first adventure in Guts’n Goals. Full of new weapons and hearts filled with intoxication at the sight of all those teeth scattered on the surfaces we have trodden.

These surfaces are, moreover, of many different types. There is of course the classic grass, on which the ball will also bounce in a classic way. But, like an Air Hockey, there are also more slippery surfaces while others, filled with mud, we will slow down sharply. In short, there is something for everyone with the twenty stages available.

After our first victory in this story mode, we unlock the MVP Hunter mode. In this one we advance on a map that will offer us the same matches or mini-games, but intermediate stages will offer us to make choices. These choices will have a vital importance on the sequence of events, because it modifies, sometimes radically, our statistics as well as those of our adversaries. Thus fighting with a +2 in speed significantly increases our chances of victory while meeting opponents whose strength is three times ours will result in a crushing and rapid defeat.

No more infinite life in this mode, a defeat sends us starting the adventure again from the start of the game. Much more interesting than the previous story mode, this MVP Hunter, without modifying the gameplay, adds a component of choice that could not be more pleasant . We can even choose the road we are going to take, this being, moreover, full of footbridges from one road to another. Our progress, made up of matches and choices, is always pleasant and the desire to go ever further is always present.

You guys I will never forget you

But what would such a game be without its versus component. However, before discussing this one, we will have to mention the interface problems of Guts’n Goals. If on the solo game, this one did not pose any problems, once in multiplayer, there are many much more surprising choices. Let’s start with the choice of players sharing our game. Pressing the A button on a controller triggers their appearance. They can then choose their character. Except that instead of a simple press on the photo of this one, you have to get a token on the random box to go and put it on the image of the chosen avatar. This choice is really strange and counter-intuitive. But he is not the only one.

To choose which camp we want to fight on, the players must be selected in the correct order, it is not possible to modify the teams on the fly once the character choice has been made. Finally, once in the field, all humans have the name of the owner of the account, there is only one number in parentheses to distinguish them. The mess is so indescribable with six players that it spoils a lot of the fun. We spend more time researching where our character is than playing.

Additionally, choices made about game customization, such as highlighting the impact zone, are only made on player one. The other players, already a little lost because they appear with a name of the same color, cannot even take advantage of this help at the start of the game. Something to discourage the less receptive. And that’s a real shame, because the very concept of CodeManu’s title makes it a perfect party game. The games are short but intense, the customization options for our characters allow everyone to find the shoe that suits them, and the pleasure of putting on the face as a team has no equivalent on earth.

blunt pixel

For the rest of the technique, there is not much to reproach Guts’n Goals. The music that assails our ears from the menu is very punchy and pleasantly enhances our games and the sound effects are simple, but pleasant. Its graphic part, all in pixel art, does the job perfectly. Each of our characters is very different from its neighbour. The available skins discreetly modify the current appearance, but again, it’s enough to allow everyone to find the avatar that suits them best. And so the six players that the title of CodeManu can bring together on the same screen each have their avatar, in the absence of their name.

Similarly, the sets are renewed at each new stage and the weapons available are all different and are very easily distinguished. Everything is perfectly animated and we spot very easily, among the multitude of special attacks that can happen to us on the face, the one in progress. The AI ​​of our opponents, or our allies, if it is not configurable in Story or MVP Hunter mode, becomes so in versus mode when we need bots to complete a team or two. We then go from a level 1 corresponding to easy to cook mussels, to a level 9 which will give us cold sweats by chaining strikes and attacks.

If it is a pity that at present no online mode comes to enhance our experience, the game with six players is facilitated by the possibility of playing only with half a joy-con per person. In this case, our strike is directed towards the nearest object, whether enemy or bouncing. It’s much less precise than with the two sticks, but it does the trick for games with friends. In any case, the grip is very easy and the use of the two sticks coupled to the ZL and ZR keys is done without any problem.