Lucha.

Really fun and challenging metroidvania in a Mexican setting with luchadores, chupacabras, demons and chickens!

Art style is really good, music too, and there is a lot of humor and easter eggs referencing other games and memes which makes it more funny. Some of the power ups really remind me Metroid games, and the combats are like a Beat Them All or fighthing game (lots of combos).

There is an extra ending and lots of special challenges for extra replay value!

PS: buy the Super Turbo Championship Edition which is more complete (new powers, new levels, ...) than the Gold Edition. Also, as far as I know, Gold Edition save games are not transferable to STCE.

Short version:

Pros:
+ Silly, yet enjoyable story
+ Decent soundtrack
+ Solid, colorful presentation
+ Continuously introduces new abilities

Cons:
- While I agree it has charm, I still find it bland (I will elaborate down below)

"Long" version:
Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition or, from now on (for the sake of brevity), Guacamelee! is a 2D, metroidvania-side-scroller (is this even a thing?) developed and published by DrinkBox Studios. You take on the role of a luchador, with the objective of rescuing a damsel in distress from the grasp of an evil mafioso.

Let us discuss the story first.
While the game’s story might initially feel silly, with its countless goofy characters and their never-ending puns, the writing is solid and the developers managed to sneak in some heartfelt moments, which was surprising. The story is basically just going from A to B, pummeling everything in your way – it is simple but it works. There are also lots of pop culture references and little videogame and movie easter eggs (like Super Mario, for example). It is fun, but the novelty wears off about midway through the story.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3274631744
Gameplay is Guacamelee!’s focus and, thankfully, is enjoyable.
You start off with a few basic abilities, like punching and jumping, but you swiftly unlock new ones that allow you to deal with different enemies or make traversal easier or, in some cases, possible (many areas are inaccessible unless you have certain abilities).

Let us focus on exploration first.
Movement feels fluid and satisfying – the more abilities you unlock, the better it feels and the more freedom you have to deal with enemies and juggle them in the air.

Speaking of enemies, combat is up next. It is good, albeit a bit chaotic sometimes. It is very mashy, at first, but after unlocking new abilities that have certain colors associated with them, you will be introduced to new enemy types that have a colored shield, which requires a specific ability of said color to damage. Once you do that, you are free to damage the enemy as normal.

The combat sections only frustrated me one or two times, so I am totally OK with it, but the game introduced an enemy type or two that were either impervious to damage while charging at you or would barrel towards you way too fast, making it almost impossible to react accordingly. Now, I did get used to them, and would often try to cheese my way through each fight they were in, but they were never fun to deal with.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3274596989

While I liked the rhythm at which I unlocked new abilities, the farther I progressed through the story, the less I enjoyed the gameplay, as the maps became more complicated but not necessarily fun to traverse. Some of the abilities allow you to pretty much “fly” in a straight path, and those puzzles were also uninspired, I feel like. Also (and this is totally on me for doing it), trying to unlock everything is a chore.

In terms of graphics, Guacamelee! features a very colorful presentation that should exude charisma. I say “should” because, while I can see how most people would think of the game as having lots of personality, I still found it rather… bland.
It is not bad, by any means, but the more I played it the less impressive the new enemy design or the new environment looked.

When it comes to sound effects, the game is solid. Your hits carry impact and ambient noises are good.
There is no voice acting, as Guacamelee! relies on text-based dialogue to convey its story. The soundtrack is good, but I did find it a bit obnoxious from time to time (and yes, I did lower the volume).
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3274632213
I am unsure about this game, to be honest. It is definitely good and I can confidently recommend it on that basis; if asked whether I had lots of fun with it or would replay it, I would have to say no.

Again, a solid metroidvania with plenty of content. The price point is just right (and if you get it during a sale, even better!) and, by the looks of it, I am in the minority here. Most people love this game and you will most likely enjoy it too. It is just not my cup of tea, I guess.

Final score: 7 out of 10.

If you enjoyed this review, please consider joining my group and following my curator page on Steam.

-Quick Review-
Guacamelee is a Metroidvania 2d Platformer Brawler Beat ‘em Up, all mixed together and wrapped with traditional Mexican culture and folklore theming. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Charge Edition was developed by DrinkBox Studios and released in 2014, Just a year after Guacamelee Gold Edition Release in 2013.

Review Video:
If you don't like reading, or are curious about watching gameplay check out my video here:
https://youtu.be/ftMIzo5vAW4

-Detailed breakdown review-
Story: You play as Juan, a humble agave farmer who goes into town and bumps into his childhood friend and love interest “El Presidente's daughter”. He also ends up confronting the Antagonist Carlos Calaca, a once famous rodeo Horsman before he broke his arm and sold his soul to the Devil to have his arm healed in time for the rodeo match. But right after he finished the match the Devil Dragged him into hell. And now Carlos Calaca is out for blood, performing ceremonies to unite the worlds of the dead and the living to subject everyone under his rule… and only Juan the Luchador can stop him!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3367773823

Gameplay: In True Metroidvania style, you start out the game with basic movement, dodge, a punch and a throw. One of the things I’ve loved about going back to play Guacamelee for a second time, is just how well put together the game is! As you get abilities, each power will correspond to a color block you can destroy. Not only are these abilities usable to access new paths in the game and secrets, you can use them for combos in the Beat-Em-Up section of the game, and they can ALSO be used on the 2d platforming.

From start to end you’re getting new abilities, beating up enemies for coins which can be used to purchase new skills, costumes, and power ups to your health, energy, and Intenso. You’ll often have the chance to detour from the main mission to work on a quest or parkour your way by using the abilities you’ve unlocked to get chests with power ups.
The style and music have held up well over these years and will continue to hold up well for years to come. Be it year 2017, 2024, or 2050. Just like I enjoy going back to old NES 2d stylized video games, so too will Guacamelee remain timeless.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3367775051

What is New in Super Turbo Championship Edition? There are two new areas: Canal de las Flores and Pico de Gallo. There are two new abilities: El Intenso and Pollo-Bomba. A New Boss: trio de la Muerte. And you can now play with 4 players for complete and total chaos, it was crazy enough trying to play cooperatively, but now you can drag along two more friends for party night.

Conclusion: Ay, Dios Mío, What a game! Guacamelee is a great game, I cannot recommend it enough to really anyone. The extra stuff you get from this version of the game is nice, but mostly peripheral. What makes Guacamelee excellent is the style, the theming, the colorful world, the music, the humor, the charm, the quirkiness, satisfying controls, platforming, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
As always I cover way more stuff in the video, so I’d suggest checking that out if you’d like to see gameplay and want a break from reading my lengthy wordy reviews. But thanks for reading! I appreciate it, and hope you enjoy Guacamelee as much as I have!

A short but very solid metroidvania with tight platforming and very fun combat. The platforming sections are fun challenges especially once most abilities are unlocked and especially demanding in the Infierno Challenges. The combat encounters while fun seem a bit too easy, like enemies usually die before you can even finish your sick combo. Wish hard difficulty was unlocked from the start.

The presentation in this game is top-notch, charming artstyle, fantastic soundtrack and the whole mexican setting with some fun references put in there was great. The story is alright, nothing you haven't seen before. There's alot of replay value if you're going for the true ending and 100%. Its not the greatest metroidvanias but it is a fun time which doesn't need hours invested in it which is honestly enough for me to recommend giving this a go and it also tends to go on sale quite often so do keep an eye out if you're interested.

No one is Going to read this review so i want to confess that i am gay

As a cross of platformer and beat ‘em up, Guacamelee doesn’t quite shine in either front: in the platforming side it’s floaty and sticky–more so when lucha moves are mandatory for traversing a level section or solving an environment puzzle; on the brawler hand it’s a bit too stiff and convoluted (crowd control can get very annoying as colored barriers and shifting dimensions pile up against the player) for its own good.

Good thing then it’s a delicious game to inhabit. The “día de muertos” setting is exquisitely realized through some top notch presentation (both in sound and visual arts, even if some vfx don’t connect properly in fights), interesting characters (side quest NPCs included) and terrific dialogue, while also lending the metroidvania aspect of the game a crucial hand–shifting between “alive” and “dead” worlds makes wonders for keeping the backtracking fatigue present in so many titles in the genre away for the most part of it.

The addition of “Intenso” (a temporary superpower) in the updated iteration of the game, brings in a welcome extra layer of balance to its flow besides expanding the player’s agency on how to tackle the game’s challenges (specially when coupled with the not-only-cosmetic skins already there from the start).

Imperfect as it is, Guacamelee conjures a too-good-to-pass-up world dead/alive for a metroidvania buff who’s in for something beyond pure mechanics shenanigans.

The combat is pretty damn fun in here!

Throughout the game there are a bunch of cute funny references and details which make it super charming.

Power ups are pretty exciting as a metroidvania standpoint. My only complaint would probably be that the game tells you where to go (with a marker on the map) pretty often; that can hold the exploration back, but nothing too bad.

The game's awesome overall!

This is such a fantastic game. The theme is dripping with love for the culture and children's cartoons. The humor is great. Side note that this also plays great on steam deck, which is a bonus!

Yes, I know... this is widely held among the more frustrating experiences in the Metroidvania world. At least the first game is, anyhow. But I honestly haven't had that much of an issue. In fact, I've really had a great time playing it. Yes, you have a variety of keypresses that need to coincide with thumbstick movements, and sometimes those misfire. Sometimes you die because of it. Honestly though... I have found many, many games which I found more frustrating, and the positive elements of this game far outweigh any issues.

I'd like to point out in particular the music in this game adds so much to the experience, as well as the colors and the graphics.

The story is simple, and there is elegence in that. It's reminiscent of a Mexican children's cartoon, to be honest, and that's great because it just works. It doesn't try to convey complex moral messages. There is good and evil here, and you are out to avenge your death and rescue the princesa. It's beauty is in simplicity in that way.

This is a classic, it really is. If you are a fan of Metroidvanias, you are not doing yourself any favors if you have not at least tried out Guacamelee.