Catch hearts, crush the bunnies and shoot the bad guys in this 2d retro style of game.
General Gameplay
Super Weekend Mode is a 8-bit throwback where you control two different bumpers to catch hearts, bump off bunnies and avoid skulls while shooting the enemy in a top down setting. The Game Visuals for Super Weekend Mode are very 8-bit in its design and nature. The characters are drawn in 8-bit as well as coloring. The game is designed to be a throwback of the era and does a great job of doing so. Everything in the game from the enemies, objects and characters are all done in 8-bit style. The game does not support a colorblind mode and it is not needed here as the colors are basic but vibrant enough to be seen on screen. In our playtesting, we did not encounter any issues that would be offensive for younger gamers. The game is very family friendly in its graphic design. Audio for Super Weekend Mode is also in an 8-bit flare. Everything from the background music to sound effects in the game have that nostalgic style to the 8-bit era. As the game does not have any spoken dialog the game is very family friendly in the audio presentation. In our playtesting, we did not hear anything that would be offensive to younger gamers, as the game is in 8-bit style it is all midi style music and effects. The game is in stereo mode and sounds fine for any sound system. Controls for the game are very simple and easy to pick up and play. The left and right shoulder buttons move the bumpers left and right and you can set up a button to shoot (however in the settings you can have auto fire on) The game controls allow the game to be played very easily. In our playtesting, we did encounter some minor issues with the controller setting for some of our older gamers and some special needs gamers (we will address this in our family friendly section). As the game uses the default controller, there is no need for a special controller for the game.
“Super Weekend Mode does a great job of being true to its 8-bit roots, but the sharp curve of difficulty makes the game unplayable for most gamers.”
Family Friendly
In our playtesting for Super Weekend Mode, it was a very mixed bag of reviews from our gamers. Some really loved the presentation and how fast paced the game was, where others felt that the game was to retro and were turn off by it. However, one thing that everyone agreed on was how the difficulty spiked right after the second level. Now some gamers love playing games where there is no continues and by being white knuckled playing with just skill alone that gets them level to level, that the game limits its appeal because of such. Younger gamers are used to having continues as well balance difficulty, with it the game for a lot of our game testers became frustrating for them to play as the game controls setting (even though that they can be change in the options) makes it hard to react and see what is going on the screen. Also, the balance of having the controls being tight for the action is key for a game like this to be successful and this is where some of our testers got it right and others could not get a hold of. By having the difficulty spike after a certain level made a lot of our testers both older gamers and as well younger ones just turn off the game and go and play something else. Now we are not saying that Super Weekend Mode is a bad game, it is more of an acquired taste to play, some gamers in your gaming family will get it and others will not. In our special needs game testing, we did not have any issues with the game graphics, sound, but with the controls, some of our special needs gamers had a hard time trying to match their eye to hand reaction with the games action. This was most present in our gaming age groups of 8-13 years gamers and some older gamers over the age of 17. Again parents/guardians please use discretion when picking up this game as it is really hit or miss for most gamers. Overall the game is not a bad game, but more for certain gamers in your gaming family.
Closing
Super Weekend Mode is a fun throwback to the 8-bit era with its graphics, audio and control style but with its spike in difficulty it will be more for the gamers that are used to harder games in your gaming family.
