Sliding around the insides of a giant worm definitely doesn’t sound appealing as a game premise. However, Slime-san’s odd and often disgusting tale is one that’s hard to put down so let’s get swallowed whole and check it out!
It’s true that Slime-san is yet another game that borrows heavily from the contemporary classic Super Meat Boy in that it’s a super-hard 2D platformer complete with wall-jumping and plenty of crazy scenarios. However, Slime-san does a lot to forge its own identity. For starters, the little fellow can become hollow by holding down a button. This allows him to both slow down time and pass through certain surfaces. He can also dash in mid-air which helps him reach faraway platforms as well as crash through weak walls. These additional mechanics make Slime-san feel like a wholly unique experience that will give hardcore 2D platformer enthusiasts a new reason to put their skills to the test. The controls are tight, the stage designs are spot-on, and there’s enough variety to keep you entertained for hours upon hours of slimy fun.
Obviously, Slime-san’s unconventional world won’t appeal to everyone. It’s gross, mildly disturbing, and absolutely ridiculous. That being said, if you have an off-the-wall sense of humour like I do then you’ll find the character interactions, references, and background scenes absolutely hilarious. The retro visual style adds a layer of silliness to the presentation although the graphics don’t really change much throughout the campaign. This is Slime-san’s biggest issue as it all starts looking repetitive after playing for only a short while and it never gets remedied. Good thing the gameplay makes up for this by constantly mixing things up. Anyway, the energetic chiptune soundtrack and goofy wobbly effects while the slime jumps around suit the ridiculous game world perfectly.
Slime-san features so much content that it’s absurd. You’ll play for dozens of hours and still find that there’s a lot to master. For starters, the campaign consists of 5 areas that are composed of 20 levels each and every one of those levels has 4 rooms. Each room contains an apple to collect and you can also try and beat every level’s par time as well as get through it without dying. Even if you manage to work through all of that, there’s a New Game+ mode to complete, a variety of speed-running and boss rush modes, and a few arcade games to unlock that you can play with a friend. These consist of interpretations of Pong, Gauntlet, and a Japanese shoot ’em up. You have to hand it to game developers who go the extra mile to offer this much content and variety.
Of course, if you’re a casual gamer or just don’t have the patience to play these kinds of incredibly challenging games then you’ll likely get too frustrated to progress far into the campaign. I wish there was some sort of easy mode so that it would appeal to more gamers. I personally enjoy the level of challenge that Slime-san offers although there is one aspect that frustrates me quite a bit. Specifically, if you miss just one apple in a room then you have to play the entire level again. Considering these levels get intensely difficult, having to replay four rooms again in succession just to snag one missing apple can be a huge pain if you’re a completionist.
Hands down, Slime-san is the best super-tough 2D platformer that I’ve ever played (yes, even better than Super Meat Boy). So, if you’re looking for a new experience to test your gaming skills then you can’t do much better than this.
