A nice little traditional platformer - Metroidvania, minus the combat.

First, I highly recommend that you try the free predecessor to this game - my respect for that made me insta-purchase this when it went on sale. http://store.steampowered.com/app/286100/You_Have_to_Win_the_Game/

Other reviewers complaints that this isn't as good as its predecessor may be valid. However, as someone who enjoyed the previous game immensely, Super Win the Game provides enough extra content that I got my fill of enjoyment.

Seeing the negative reviews for this game only shows, that this is not for everybody. If you're like me, and are 30+ ish, and played video games in your childhood, then you will enjoy this game.
What it reminded me of:
- Battle of Olympos (Platforming part)
- Zelda 1 and 2 (Open World Exploration / Platforming)
- Dragon Warrior (Open World Exploration)
- C64 games in general

When I purchased this game, I wanted to go back to the old days, a sort of nostalgia trip, and this game delivered it. Thank you for that, especially the CRT vision :)

A rewarding exploration-platformer with some great puzzles thrown in. Incredibly frustrating at times, but every time I thought I was stuck I just needed better timing. The numerous secrets hidden throughout were a joy to discover.

If you like platformers where timing is important, exploration is rewarded, and will make you stop and think a few times, this game is for you.

My god this game gives me all sorts of happy feelings. It reminds me so much of Zelda II from back in the day, which is a game I loved despite its flaws.

This game takes out all the frustrating aspects of Zelda II while maintaining a lot of the aesthetic and the tone. But more than that, there's a lot of other legitimate retro references in here. This feels less like a homage and more like a lost game from that era -- a good one.

I can't recommend it enough. There are frequent checkpoints, and so the parts that would otherwise be frustrating are things that you can practice to your heart's content. It thus has a great amount of challenge in parts without being annoying about it at any time.

The items and unlocks are good, and the feeling of exploration is tangible. There are several methods of fast travel that you can make use of as you progress, and that makes backtracking not a thing anymore.

My sole complaint, and really this is just a matter of what the game is, is that there isn't any direct combat. This is all about platforming, pure and simple. There are enemies, sure, but you just avoid them. To be honest, that works just fine and the game is great even so. GET THIS GAME. But what I'd love to see is a sequel that takes all the great stuff from this game, then adds in Zelda II or Castlevania style combat. That would just be absolutely killer and take this over the top from being something I really really like to being something I desperately love.

This is an absolute must-buy for fans of the previous game ("You Have to Win the Game", available for free on Steam). It follows the same basic formula of platforming (there is no combat at all), exploration, and puzzle solving. Similar to the original, the look is retro, only this time around the inspiration is more from the 8-bit console era. In fact, the majority of the aesthetics are pretty blatantly, err, "borrowed", from Zelda II. While this might seem a bit shameful (and I suppose it is in some ways), it touches me smack dab in my happy nostalgic gaming place. This is pretty much a perfect game for someone like me who still looks fondly on those old days of gaming and wishes there were more games in that vein. The gameplay consists of exploring a top-down overworld map, and then exploring several side-scrolling locations (towns, caves, dungeons, etc) to solve secrets and collect the items needed to win the game. There is not a lot of hand holding, and there are lots of secrets, so you do have to pay close attention (or be very thorough exploring) to finish the game, which is something I really enjoyed. The bulk of the game involves platforming and solving platforming-related puzzles. The difficulty is mostly reasonable throughout, with just a handful of really tough spots, so it's a decent balance. Although it can be quite challenging at points, checkpoints are plentiful and there is no penalty for dying, so it's not too frustrating overall. I would not recommend it if you don't like platformers at all, or don't have a good controller, though. But otherwise, I think it is an excellent game for those who like old-school and/or challenging platformers.

I really liked this game, but seeing the reviews on here I can see why other people didn't like it. If you like the aesthetic of Zelda II, hard platformers and metroidvanias, you'll find some value in this game. If you're not sure if you'll like this game, there's a free version that you can try, and if you really like it you'll probably get your money's worth on this one.

Pros:
- The retro CRT TV filter is great. It may be a little overmuch at first, but the effect is totally cusomizable, or you can just turn it off entirely.
- The story (although rather buried) is interesting. Not groundbreaking or absolutely stunning, but interesting...which is more than I can say for a lot of recent games.
- There are a lot of "borrowed assests" in this game. While I'd normally take umbrage to swiping sprites from older, better games, they're here as homage, and are used with minor changes that make them more than xerox copies.
- Secrets. False walls, floors, and hidden areas on the world map are fun to find, accidentally or not. The NPCs will point you in the direction of a lot of them, but hopefully you'll find some on your own, too.

Cons:
- The music is short loops that restart every time you enter a new area (which is frequently). I love chiptunes, but I had to turn it down to keep my head from exploding.
- There's nothing to it. I'm now just shy of 2 hours into the game. I have seen the entire world map, cleared all the major dungeons, and have collected 3 of the 5 pieces of the King's Heart (i.e. "The Big End Item"). I'm already tired of backtracking...
- It's not "open world". Although you're immediately free to roam anywhere on the world map, you can't do anything (save talk to a few cryptic NPCs) until you get some items. The items must be acquired in a specific order, too. It's a bummer walking to the ends of the Earth just to have to walk all the way back because you can't double jump yet.
- No fighting allowed. This game is strictly a platformer. You walk, you jump, you listen to villagers. You don't fight, you don't cast magic, and you dodge anything that looks like it might bite you. Not very fun.
- It's expensive. Even with the 10% discount, this game just doesn't have that meaty cash-to-fun ratio I love as a PC gamer. Twelve bucks got me maybe 3-4 hours of game, and that's just not a very good value.

All in all, if I had to compare this game to something, it'd be a piece of Fruit Stripe gum. A blast from the past that isn't bad but doesn't quite taste right, and gets stale far too soon.

Mechanically, this game is identical to its predecessor, You Have to Win the Game. So far as I can tell having almost beaten the game, there are no items in Super that were not in You Have to, meaning that for gameplay, you're in for much the same.

Coming from someone who really loved You Have to Win the Game, I found Super Win the Game profoundly boring. The charm and variety found in the original game has been shirked here for an "open world" style akin to Zelda II, losing the great sense of connectivity in You Have to for not much in return. In theory this means that Super can have varied environments in a way that You Have to never could, but in execution I more often than not found myself bored with the environments as they were something I had seen before in other better games, and I longed for the tubey VVVVV style world I loved in You Have to.

Maybe with better spritework and environment building Super could've been better than the original. As it stands, You Have to is a much leaner, tighter experience with none of Super's fluff with more pleasing aesthetics and less aimless roaming.

I was able to try this game out thanks to GamesMatter on Twitter. https://twitter.com/GamesMatterHQ

Super Win the Game is a retro platformer that really nails the 8-bit era Zelda II visual style with a bit of a different spin introducing a world map and non-linearity.

Pros
- Captures the NES Zelda II style perfectly. You really feel like you are playing a ROM from that era.
- Platforming is done well and sufficiently challenging.
- Overworld map let's you choose where you want to go in a non-linear fashion.
- Plenty of save points so you never have to backtrack very far.
- CRT filter is configurable and able to be turned off.

Cons
- There's really no game play beyond the platforming. I felt like it could have used a bit more to do and variety like combat and puzzles and so forth.
- Although the overworld is open and you can do it any order there are many areas are blocked off until you get a certain items resulting in a lot of backtracking.
- The $12.99 asking price is (subjectively) a bit high for what you're getting.

If you really love retro platformers Super Win the Game does it well with its own unique twists of overworld map and non-linearity. Just don't expect more than straight up platforming. While it may look visually like a near clone of Zelda II the dungeon portions actually play more like Super Mario Brothers.

For the retro gamer, this one has it all.

1. CRT screen look and feel
2. scan lines
3. 8 bit graphics
4. 8 bit sound
5. 80s game soundtrack

It FELT like I was 15 again and it was 1986. What a great game and concept, mixing what was best about the era with a look and feel that matches.

Not sure if I can go back and play more personally, simply because my account has way to much other content to interest me more.

BUT if you want retro, you want adventure, you want platforming and you want to be back in 1986, this is your game!

10/10