Saturday Morning RPG is a game released in 2012 for iOS. Since then it got a release for the PC, Mac, Linux and even the failed Ouya console. In 2016, Limited Run Games released a physical port of the game for the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita. Now, 6 years after its initial release, you can experience Saturday Morning RPG on yet another new platform, the Nintendo Switch.
It was acceptable in the 80’s
Saturday Morning RPG heavily draws inspiration from everything the 80’s had to offer. The game is filled to the brim with pop culture references from that era. In Saturday Morning RPG you portray Martin ‘Marty’ Michael Hall, a high-school student. Marty comes packed with an unreachable crush, a quarterback bully, dorky friends but also with a strong sense of justice. While dreaming, Marty gets granted a great power by the “Power Glove” wielding Wizard – referencing the 1989 movie: The Wizard – in the form of a magical binder. The binder acts as a place to store and collect all your special moves you can use to stop the notorious villain, Commander Hood.
Episodic Gameplay
Saturday Morning RPG takes place across five episodes. Each episode can be played in about an hour depending on which side quests you chose to complete along-side the main quest. Just like the Saturday Morning Cartoons, each episode is a self-contained story. Playing them in order is the ideal way to play Saturday Morning RPG but you could go on and play them in the order you like. Even revisiting episodes you played before, to find the one item you missed, is possible. All of your acquired powers and stats get carried over. Some decisions you make in one episode trigger a small change in another episode, adding to the replay value of the game.
What about the combat system?
Every RPG needs a great story but in the end the battle system makes or breaks the experience. Saturday Morning RPG offers JRPG style turn-based combat. Every turn you choose between 3 options: a normal attack, a special attack or charge your attack for more destructive power on your next turn. You collect special attacks either by buying them, finding them while exploring or even through completing certain side quests. You can use your binder to select 5 special powers you’ll use in battle. This makes for a really customizable battle experience. Personally, I got a bit overwhelmed with all the different powers, which led me to settle with the same 5 special powers throughout the game.
Mini-game galore
While the combat is turn-based, that doesn’t mean you have to just select your attacks and watch it all unfold. Inspired by the famed Paper Mario gameplay, you need to participate in battles with time-based controls. Each battle starts off by scratching – via wiggling the joystick like crazy – up to 5 “scratch ‘n’ sniff” stickers which grant you some temporarily stat boosts. Most special powers have a unique way of maximizing the attack. Sometimes you need to press a certain button at the right time, other times you need to bash a button as much as you can during a given time. There are even moments where you need to play a short game of “Simon says…” to determine how many enemies you hit.
Even while defending you can parry the attack by a well-timed press of a button, sometimes resulting in a counter attack. At first, I liked all these additions to the battle system but sadly it grows old really quick. Having to button smash and frantic wiggling your controller each and every battle, starts to make your thumbs feel exhausted. This ruined the fun I initially had with this game.
Visually not great
Saturday Morning RPG still uses the same graphics they once used for their initial iOS release. What might have been just fine for a phone screen, just looks ugly once. The 2D pixelated made characters are not the problem. The 3D backgrounds on the other hand, are just plain old ugly. Everything looks very blocky and the lack variety in use of color doesn’t translate well to a big 4k TV like mine. That being said, the backgrounds during the battles are actually great. They seem to be taken straight from street fighter II, even including the occasional awkward cheering bystanders.
Conclusion
Saturday Morning RPG is a fun game when you play it in small chunks to give your thumbs some needed rest. The battle system is rich enough to give you a nice experience. The 80s references are all around the game to give you a fair share of giggles while exploring. The graphics could be much improved. The music is great but can get repetitive in some areas. This nostalgia filled game has room for improvement making it an average experience. Some parts were great and even innovative while other felt tedious and ugly.
