What do you get when you take a extra large helping of onions and cram ’em into Super Mario Bros 2? Well, that’d be Onion Assault, the most onion-y platformer to grace the Switch in yonks. So let’s peel back some layers!
Onion Assault is the newest title from Hörberg Productions, the small Swedish studio behind 2012’s Gunman Clive. And Hörberg’s now traded the wild west for onions in this old-school action platformer.
Hörberg Productions wear their influence on their sleeves as Onion Assault is a very obvious homage to the NES classic Super Mario Bros 2. Not dissimilar from Mario and co back in 1988, Onion Assault will see you plucking goodies out of the ground, bowling them about and standing on enemies heads without taking damage before chucking them too. In lieu of the bros, you’ll take control of Pelle Lok and Mama Lok, a topless beefcake and a scarfed babushka respectively. United by their love of throwing fresh produce, you’ll take the duo through a gauntlet of platforming goodness.
You’ll be faced with playful new ways to muck around from level to level (16 to be exact) such as springy spiderwebs that’ll bounce anything sent their way, or cannons ready to launch an onion at breakneck speed. And the bosses are where the mechanics get extra spicy – but I won’t spoil anything.
That said, I do wish the throw-and-ride idea was pushed a little further – beyond the boss battles and one particular tank section, the the gameplay doesn’t seem to have evolved much since we saw Mario doing something similar in the late eighties.
While I’m rambling I also had some issues with the checkpoint system. There doesn’t seem to be any clear indication as to when or where checkpoints lie and a death can come pretty quickly (and cheaply) in some of the later levels. And this wouldn’t be so much of an issue if there were a few more health pickups or the controls were a little tighter. But you could also chalk this all up to the charm of a indie throwback title calling back to difficulty of the NES era.
Onion Assault is short but sweet, with a couple of onion-induced tears. All in all, it’s a decently solid platformer that attempts to recreate an often overlooked part of the moustachioed man’s history and for that you have to give it props!
Rating: 3.5/5
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