#super benbo quest

[mzjosef]

[hksddr]

N. SWITCH Super Benbo Quest: Turbo Deluxe PLAY READY GO

[knebulanight]

Six Fanarts! Characters suggested by my twitter followers.

[radramblog]

Super Benbo Quest: Turbo Deluxe

Some time ago, I discussed the various types of bad media, in what is in retrospect probably not my greatest work. One of the biggest takeways I’ve found when it comes to stories and games is that its very hard to capture that “so bad its good” feeling intentionally. Many try and fail. And while discussing these concepts, I can’t believe that I completely forgot to talk about fuckin’ Benbo quest.

SUPER BENBO QUEST: TURBO DELUXE is a…platforming beat-em-up game, I guess? Released in 2018 to basically zero fanfare. And it’s an odd little morsel, a good game wearing the skin and looks of a bad game but being far from perfect despite that.

I feel like you can immediately tell if you’re going to bounce off of Benbo quest based entirely off of the game’s introduction. Unfortunately, I don’t know shit about recording video and no one has uploaded it to Youtube. In fact, only 3 people seem to have uploaded playthroughs onto the site- a channel called Let’s Game it Out, LoadingReadyRun’s Watch + Play (which is how I came across it), and one Mr. Marowak, a musician and speedrunner who got the game accepted into SGDQ2019 before tragically passing away before the event.

I’m getting off track. The story of this game is irrelevant anyway, pretty much an excuse plot for you to play a tiny pixel anime girl beating the shit out of a legion of skeletal foes. The game could best be described as a refined version of something a 12-year-old would make- a mess of sprites forming somewhat nonsensical levels, absurd humour, and a solid variety of challenging bosses.

I feel like it’s very hard to communicate how this game looks and feels without seeing it in action, but I’m going to do my best. It is extremely effective at wearing the veneer of a terrible awful fucking game. The tilesets for the levels are messy, often stretched and scaled awkwardly. The enemy design ranges from basic to ugly, with the exception of (some of the) over-the-top bosses, and the effects (both sound and visual) when they die are utterly silly. A variety of sound effects pepper the game, both stock and unexpected, which admittedly can get somewhat grating over time. The music is all obvious midis/pre-existing digital instruments, and the game uses That One Explosion graphic all the time.

But all that belies what is actually a surprisingly well-designed platformer that, while amateurish, clearly took important game theory lessons to heart. Said midis are actually pretty well composed, and the humour, while pretty subjective, resonated extremely well with my shitposting ass. The physics are surprisingly solid, and the options within the limited moveset of the protagonist are deeper than one would expect. As well, the progression of the levels and bosses have a clear goal in mind for teaching the player how to play the game. Level one is basic movement and combat, while its boss expects you to learn how to lead attacks and necessitates you figure out that some projectiles can be attacked and destroyed. Level two has more treacherous movement including necessary dashes and wall jumps, and a boss that, while not requiring it, becomes monumentally easier through the use of your lightning-quick dive kick. Level three has even tougher movement as well as falling platforms and the last few enemy types, with a boss remaining almost entirely airborne and requiring use of the spin attack as well as dodging targeted attacks that come up next level. You get the idea.

Despite this, I do have a couple issues with the game- it’s far from perfect, but a solid first attempt. The first is the controls- it might have been because I was playing on keyboard instead of controller, but they’re incredibly finicky, especially when it comes to dashing, and getting used to that was a real hurdle. The second issue is that some of the aforementioned bosses are just way harder than necessary- level two’s is fine, but the bosses of level 1 (well, his stage 2) and 3 are extremely unforgiving- both have so much health and deal so much damage that it necessitates a long, drawn out fight but you’re constantly having to dodge and it’s hard to get attacks in while doing so. This is accentuated by boss 3’s habit of floating offscreen, and the hitbox for its laser attack being larger and lasting longer than you would expect. I’m still not sure what the intended strategy for the level 5 boss is, since the most optimal one just seems to be rushing it and hitting it until it keels over and pretty much ignoring its attacks, and level 6’s second boss, while incredibly fun at first, is insanely brutal and I still haven’t been able to beat it.

My other problem with the game is that it seems to eat my savefile constantly, and that just sucks. I was up to the last level (granted that’s out of 6), and I have to start over? Bleh. Also apparently it wiped my achievements as well, so steam has my current achievements as near nothing but also has record of me getting nearly all of them...?

Despite these flaws, I still think Super Benbo Quest: Turbo Deluxe is worth picking up. It’s not a long game, and if nothing else you have to see the intro and cutscenes. From my memory, it’s also fairly cheap, like I only paid a buck or so for it, and

…okay maybe wait for it to go on sale.

[veeranger]

thanks for coming to stream everyone! here's what was chosen today

games - transformers devastation, stanley parable ultra deluxe, kamen rider memory of heroez, super benbo quest

plamodel - hg infinite justice gundam, frs kamen rider ooo tajador

emotes - veegun, veebonk, live egg reaction

vroid - jill stingray cosplay, minami aki (kr mushi) cosplay, vee ponytail hairstyle

[pembrokewkorgi]

Meiou and I go on a meme filled adventure with Super Benbo Quest Turbo Delux.  Will be survice the BONE ZONE?  Only one way to find out!

[jellhound]

hey didnt super benbo quest come out?

why hasnt it gotten extremely popular yet

it’s fucking super benbo quest

[hksddr]

N. SWITCH Super Benbo Quest: Turbo Deluxe PLAY READY GO

[pembrokewkorgi]

Come check it out!