Giga Wrecker

Last updated
Giga Wrecker
Giga Wrecker Title Screen PC.jpg
Windows title screen
Developer(s) Game Freak
Publisher(s) Rising Star Games [lower-alpha 1]
Director(s) Masayuki Onoue [1]
Producer(s) Tetsuya Watanabe [1]
Designer(s) Hiroto Ito
Asagiri [1]
Composer(s)
Engine
Platform(s) Windows, Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release
  • Windows
  • February 6, 2017
  • Switch, PS4, Xbox One
  • April 29, 2019
Genre(s) Puzzle-platform

Giga Wrecker is a puzzle-platform game developed by Game Freak and published by Rising Star Games. It was released for Windows in February 2017 and Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One as Giga Wrecker Alt. in April 2019.

Contents

In Giga Wrecker, the main character Reika smashes obstacles and enemies into debris, then fashions the debris into weapons, balls, cubes, and other tools with which to fight stronger enemies, solve puzzles, and maneuver to new areas.

Plot

In a world mostly destroyed from a war between humans and robotic attackers known as "Ajith" (in the Alt. translation; "Ajeet" in the original translation), Reika Rekkeiji is imprisoned in a work camp run by the Ajith. A mysterious assailant frees her from captivity yet then proceeds to attempt to kill Reika, shooting her in the arm. Reika is saved from death by an eccentric scientist and given a refashioned cybernetic arm with "ARCHE" nanomachine technology. The freakishly large and powerful arm allows Reika to infiltrate the robotic factories, appearing as a normal robot to sensors. She also finds other once-human cyborgs seemingly working for the Ajith. Reika attempts to discover the truth behind the situation while fighting the robots with rubble fashioned into weapons by the nanomachines in her new arm.

Gameplay

Giga Wrecker is a 2D puzzle-platform game, with the player controlling Reika as she jumps and maneuvers through various areas. Most rooms tend to have a puzzle aspect where Reika must find debris in a variety of ways, breaking down objects or minor enemies, then reshape the debris into useful tools - creating bridges to cross gaps, debris balls to smash larger enemies with, blocks to stand on, and so on. Destroying enemies for the first time as well as solving certain puzzles grants upgrade points which can be used to make Reika stronger and give her minor new abilities. The expanding map has Metroidvania elements, although new areas are generally opened by finding a sufficient number of keys to unlock an area rather than new abilities that clear an obstruction. If Reika loses all her health from obstacles or enemies, the player simply restarts the room; a restart can also be forced by the player with a "Tachyon Pulse" if the room has descended into an unwinnable state. [2]

After completing an area, there is generally a boss fight awaiting Reika against a fellow cyborg ("Astra"), who will be far more powerful and dangerous than the normal enemy robots that inhabit the location.

The Alt. release for consoles includes a hint robot in the form of new character Dölma that can be accessed for players having difficulty solving rooms, a new difficulty mode, an updated English translation, some story revisions (including a post-credits scene), and additional rooms to explore and solve. [3]

Reception

Giga Wrecker received mixed reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic [4] [5] Kyle LeClair of Hardcore Gaming gave the PC version a positive review, praising the environments, puzzles, combat, and bosses; less positively, LeClair found the English translation awkward, though he still found the plot interesting. [6] For the 2019 release, Nintendo Life considered the combat "forgettable" and criticized the retro-anime style as uninspired, but liked the game otherwise, especially the addition of the hint robot for the game's more obtuse puzzles. [3] Laura Francis of Eurogamer praised the core gameplay conceit, that of smashing up things to make giant debris balls which smash even larger things, as an enjoyable idea, but found the soundtrack uninspired and the physics engine overly finicky at times. [2] Steve Watts of GameSpot was more derisive, calling the game a "hunk of junk". Watts felt that the boss battles were enjoyable and a good challenge, but that there were too few of them compared to the platforming and puzzle-solving, which he felt were unforgiving and frustrating. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3</i> Japanese anime television series

Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3, also known as The Unchallengeable Daitarn 3, is a Japanese anime television series created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yatate, and animated by Sunrise. It was first broadcast on Japanese TV in 1978. The series lasted for 40 episodes. The opening theme Come Here! Daitarn 3 is sung by Makoto Fujiwara. Despite being moderately successful in Japan, the series became very popular abroad, especially in Italy during the early 1980s.

<i>Metal Mutant</i> 1991 video game

Metal Mutant is a side-scrolling action-adventure game developed and published for MS-DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST by Silmarils and released in 1991. The game allows the player to transform at any time into three different robot forms: Cyborg, Dino, and Tank.

<i>The Haunted Mansion</i> (video game) 2003 video game

The Haunted Mansion is an action-adventure video game released in 2003 from North America and 2004 in Europe and Japan by High Voltage Software. The game is based on the Disney ride of the same name, rather than the eponymous film, which was released shortly after the game. However, some elements and set designs from the film are incorporated into the game.

<i>Professor Layton and the Curious Village</i> 2007 Japanese puzzle video game

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a puzzle adventure video game for the Nintendo DS system. It was developed and published by Level-5 in Japan and published by Nintendo worldwide. It was released in Japan in 2007 and worldwide the following year. It was re-released in Australia using the British English localisation and European artwork to replace the previously released North American localisation. Curious Village is the first game in the Professor Layton series, followed by Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. An enhanced mobile port of Curious Village featuring additional cutscenes, subtitled "HD for Mobile", was released in 2018.

<i>Nano Breaker</i> 2005 video game

Nano Breaker is an action video game developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2. It was released in Japan on January 27, 2005, in North America on February 15, 2005, and in PAL regions on February 18, 2005.

<i>Blender Bros.</i> 2002 video game

Blender Bros. is a 2002 platform game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Infogrames. The game was originally released for the Game Boy Advance, but in 2020, the game was ported to Windows by Piko Interactive.

<i>The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai</i> 2009 video game

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is a beat 'em up game developed by independent software developer James Silva for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service.

<i>The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor</i> (video game) 2008 video game

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a third-person action adventure video game adaption of film of the same name. The PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of the game were developed by Eurocom, while the Nintendo DS version was developed by Artificial Mind and Movement. The game was published by Sierra Entertainment, a subsidiary of Vivendi Games. It was released worldwide in Q3 2008.

<i>Transformers Animated: The Game</i> 2008 video game

Transformers Animated: The Game is a 2008 video game for the Nintendo DS handheld based on Transformers: Animated, a television series in the Transformers franchise.

<i>Monsters vs. Aliens</i> (video game) 2009 video game

Monsters vs. Aliens is a 2009 video game based on the film with the same name. The game was released on March 24, 2009 on PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Microsoft Windows.

<i>Zumas Revenge!</i> 2009 video game

Zuma's Revenge! is a 2009 tile-matching puzzle video game developed and published by PopCap Games. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, as a sequel to the earlier 2003 video game, Zuma, and was later ported to Windows Phone.

<i>Pineapple Smash Crew</i> 2012 video game

Pineapple Smash Crew is a 2012 dungeon crawl video game by British developer Rich Edwards. The game Pineapple Smash Crew is a "neo-retro" style, single player, level based, shoot-em-up game. It focuses on smashing and grabbing items, power-ups and strategy. The single player game is currently available for Microsoft Windows.

<i>Pid</i> (video game) 2012 video game

Pid is a puzzle-platform game developed by Might and Delight and published by D3 Publisher for Xbox 360 through the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation 3 through PlayStation Network, Microsoft Windows, and OS X. On November 18, 2022, it was published by RedDeerGames for Nintendo Switch. It was announced December 7, 2011, and released worldwide October 31, 2012.

<i>Deadfall Adventures</i> 2013 video game

Deadfall Adventures is an action-adventure video game developed by The Farm 51 and published by Nordic Games. Deadfall Adventures was released on November 15, 2013, for Windows and Xbox 360, and on October 28, 2014, for PlayStation 3 under the name of Deadfall Adventures: Heart of Atlantis. The game is set in the universe of the Allan Quatermain series, created by H. Rider Haggard.

<i>9 Elefants</i> 2014 video game

9 Elefants is an iOS puzzle game developed by Microïds and published by Anuman. It was released on April 24, 2014.

<i>Ghost 1.0</i> 2016 video game

Ghost 1.0 is a Metroidvania video game developed and published by Francisco "franfistro" Téllez de Meneses, the developer of Unepic, in collaboration with an unnamed development team. It was released on June 7, 2016 for the digital distribution platform Steam and later for GOG. It was released for the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in July 2018 and for PlayStation 4 in April 2019.

<i>The Turing Test</i> (video game) 2016 video game

The Turing Test is a first-person puzzle video game developed by Bulkhead Interactive and published by Square Enix Collective. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One in August 2016, for PlayStation 4 in January 2017, for Nintendo Switch in February 2020, and for Stadia in May 2020.

<i>Icey</i> 2016 video game

Icey is a 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash video game developed by FantaBlade Network and published by X.D. Network. It was released for iOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 in November 2016, for Android in October 2017, and Nintendo Switch in May 2018. The game involves a female cyborg's mission to defeat a villain named Judas and his robot minions, and can be played in a linear manner from beginning to end like a typical game. Alternately, the player may disobey the narrator's instructions and in doing so break the fourth wall. The game received positive reviews from critics, who commended it as a good video game in its own right, elevated by its unusual meta-commentary.

<i>Worlds End Club</i> 2020 video game

World's End Club is a puzzle action-adventure game developed by Too Kyo Games and Grounding, and published by IzanagiGames. It was initially released as part of Apple Arcade for iOS and macOS in 2020, and for Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows the following year.

References

  1. ↑ Game Freak published the game in Japan and the Windows version
  1. 1 2 3 4 Giga Wrecker official manual (2017 Steam release)
  2. 1 2 Giga Wrecker Alt is a colourful slice of anime action that leaves a little to be desired
  3. 1 2 Giga Wrecker Alt. Review
  4. ↑ Metacritic: Giga Wrecker for PC reviews
  5. ↑ Metacritic: Giga Wrecker Alt. for Switch reviews
    Metacritic: Giga Wrecker Alt. for PlayStation4 reviews
    Metacritic: Giga Wrecker Alt. for Xbox One reviews
  6. ↑ "Review: Giga Wrecker". Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  7. ↑ Giga Wrecker Alt Review - Hunk Of Junk
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.