Kunai is a new Metroidvania action platformer from fledging studio Turtleblaze. In this day and age where Metroidvanias practically litter the streets, it’s pretty risky to dip a toe into such an oversaturated genre. To stand out you need to do something innovative or unique to make your game worth choosing over more popular titles like Hollow Knight or Axiom Verge.
Or, you could just make a super solid game that’s fun to play, which is what Turtleblaze has done. Kunai isn’t doing anything that hasn’t been done before, but its blend of sword-based combat and grappling hook assisted platforming feels so good that it’s easy to excuse its lack of innovation.
The Journey Of Tabby McTabletface Begins
Kunai begins with a mad scientist recounting how humanity will inevitably destroy itself… which is pretty much exactly what happens. It’s the distant future, and mankind is almost extinct. The world is in shambles, and robots with computer screens for faces seem to be the only ones trying to save what’s left of the planet. A few members of a resistance force - helpfully named The Resistance - open up a life pod to release the main character, a sentient tablet with a body named Tabby. Why would they go through such trouble to save a walking iPad? Because it’s also a badass ninja and “the chosen one.” Tabby grabs a sword along with some of the titular kunai and begins hacking his way through evil robots to stop the villainous rogue A.I., Lemonkus, that’s responsible for all the fuss.
Needless to say, this isn’t a high brow science fiction classic. The narrative is essentially there for the sake of there being a narrative. However, it is entertaining, as Kunai seems to acknowledge that the story they’re telling isn’t super original or compelling. It often pokes fun at its own premise and the characters tell jokes despite living in what looks like a post-apocalyptic hellscape. The tone of the game is set up pretty early when a boss battle on a giant airship ends in less than epic fashion. It’s hard to poke holes in the plot when the game itself doesn’t take it seriously.
A Machine Programmed To Kill And Play Candy Crush
Kunai isn’t the type of game you play for the story anyway. This is an action platformer where both parts of the genre are equally fun to play. The main way you’ll dispatch enemies is with your trusty, red, energy-sapping sword. You can rapidly slash your way through enemy robots, and killing them restores a portion of your health. It can additionally be used to deflect bullets and bounce on enemy heads. You’ll gain other weapons that not only open up new ways to bust up evil machines, but also open up pathways in typical Metroidvania style.
The platforming is surprisingly the highlight of Kunai. The kunai you use operate less like throwing knives and more like grappling hooks. You have one kunai for each of the Switch’s triggers and you alternate between the two to swing back and forth. This allows for some pretty quick and smooth traversal through levels, and you later gain additional movement abilities that increase the variety of ways for you to get around. Learning how to use your skills to move fast and strike your enemies makes the player feel as nimble as a ninja.
The combat is quite frenetic, but at times I felt like the game wasn’t as challenging as it could be. Many enemies could be taken out by simply mashing the attack button. However, Kunai never becomes a cakewalk. Later enemies do require you to plan out your movements and strikes in a more strategic fashion, and there are some surprisingly difficult, yet creative boss fights. There’s also a good risk/reward system in place, since defeating tougher enemies nets you more money to spend on upgrades and more health regained. Of course, the downside is that a tough foe may end up costing you more health or just outright killing you.
Kunai is generous with the save points scattered throughout the journey, but I felt myself longing for some kind of fast travel system. The levels aren’t that big, so getting from one point to the next doesn’t take very long. But having to turn back and run through the level again after beating a boss or going the wrong way can be a drag.
Slash To The Past
The setting of Kunai is pretty generic. It’s your standard destroyed world and the sections follow some predictable level tropes. There’s a dank cave, a slimy sewer, a mysterious mountain, an airship that auto-scrolls like Super Mario Bros. 3, etc. What redeems this is that Kunai employs a unique visual style that helps hide the fact that the stages are your usual video game fare. There’s a very limited color palette with brown, green, purple, and blue making up most of Kunai’s rainbow along with some sharp reds added in for contrast. It invokes the look of classic Game Boy games - well maybe Game Boy Color considering the blues and reds - and it does feel like something that could have played in the backseat of a car during a long, mid-90s road trip.
Tabby’s character design is also pretty amusing, as he has a mixture of facial expressions that all change depending on what he’s doing. He’s adorable, especially when his face is in the throes of enraptured wonder upon finding a new hat. Most of the enemies and characters have a very cartoony art style, which further makes this feel like a game where you’re supposed to ignore the plot and focus on the swinging.
If you’re going to be a robo-ninja, then you need some catchy music to keep you stabbing forward, and Kunai delivers on that front. The soundtrack is fantastic with some awesome chiptune music that simultaneously sounds like something from an old ninja movie and the Donkey Kong Country series. The music is very memorable and Kunai now sits comfortably with The Messenger in the exclusive category of fun ninja games with sick tunes.
Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!
Kunai isn’t revolutionary and initially reminded me of a high-end flash game with its focus on Spiderman-esque swinging and rapid-fire sword action. But playing it further revealed a game that got deeper and more fun as it went along. The premise is tired, but the game’s dialogue and general demeanor made it clear that the story wasn’t a priority when it came to making this game. After all, who can criticize a game that has a main character named Tabby McTabletface?
If you like you enjoyed playing The Messenger, then this will be right in your wheelhouse. Kunai might look like another Metroidvania to add to the pile, but upon closer inspection, you’ll find a game that’s action-packed and as charming as its tablet-faced lead.
A Nintendo Switch copy of Kunai was provided to TheGamer for this review. Kunai is available on Nintendo Switch and PC.
