Antonblast is a blast, literally. Its high-octane platforming meets speedrunning is a love letter to everything Wario fans love and have wanted for years, but highly more profane and chaotic in all the right ways. Summitsphere’s platformer is not one to miss, folks.
Before Antonblast, there was Pizza Tower. Before Pizza Tower, there was Wario Land 4. All of these games follow the same chaotic gameplay loop of destruction and debauchery that is best appreciated by those who prefer a screen full of flashing numbers and explosions over visual clarity. I don’t think there’s a proper name for these kinds of games, but I’ll call them… “Wario-likes.” There aren’t that many of ‘em, save for the three I mentioned in the first sentence of this review, and it pains me that there are so few in the gaming space.
On the other hand…the few “Wario-likes” are absolute bangers. Antonblast is one of those bangers.
Antonblast is the newest glorious entry to the “Wario-like” category which, up until now, was a population of two. Starring Dynamite Anton, a foul-mouthed drunk with a massive hammer, is on a revenge mission to reclaim his spirits that Satan stole out of spite. Well, Satan wants to be the reddest man of all – apparently Anton holds the title for being the reddest man of all.
Antonblast effortlessly blends high-speed platforming, large scale destruction, and speedrunning in ways that would make Sonic the Hedgehog fans squeal with delight. In each of its handcrafted levels, Anton is to mosey his way to the lost spirit (as in, floating magical alcoholic beverage) at the center of the level. Upon retrieving it, Anton then has a race against the clock to get back to the start of the level all the while the level is crumbling to bits. It’s platforming done expertly well because of the creative ways in which Summitsphere blends platforming across dimensions, eye-bleedingly-fast speeds, and traditional powerups found in old-school Wario games.
Just about every single screen of Antonblast was full to the brim with explosions, flashing numbers, onomatopoeias, and particles that were casualties of me swinging my hammer through enemies, objects, and walls alike. It’s a glorious chaos that is only supercharged by the excellent soundtrack that Tony Grayson composed, but more on the OST in a moment. I kept thinking that I would have trouble getting through the stages because of the assault on my eyes, but I was getting through just fine and having an absolute blast. Despite everything happening on screen (seriously, there’s a lot at all times), Antonblast maintains a flow that rewards those who just push forward toward Happy Hour. You know how Sonic the Hedgehog’s classic games are all about building momentum regardless of what’s on the screen? Antonblast amps that momentum to high-octane degrees.
The platforming and movement are slippery, though. Far more slippery than any Sonic game I’ve played. The slippery nature of the movement proved to be difficult and frustrating to master at first, but practice made perfect in reaching that state of flow that defied the laws of physics. Every level introduced a slightly new mechanic and built off of each other to continuously keep me on my toes. If I hadn’t mastered a specific mechanic, I would struggle to no end on the later levels until I did master that mechanic well enough to proceed.
There was just one weird issue, however, and that was the counterintuitiveness of the pixel-perfect platform that seemed to require me to slow down instead of maintain my high speeds to proceed. Levels had branching paths and were chock full of secrets. Getting to those secrets would often require me to slow down and bounce or hit objects in a pixel-perfect fashion, and I most often had a single chance to do it in a level unless I wanted to restart at a checkpoint. It felt jarring to go from rolling down ramps and flying through the air only to cautiously bounce on boxes that would disintegrate if I did so much as sneeze on them. But, this is where the mechanical mastery became important – if I could use platform at high speeds, I should be able to proceed just fine if I slowed down.
Fans of 2023’s Pizza Tower may feel like Antonblast is a carbon copy, or at least similar in platforming design. To that I say, sort of, but not really. Where Pizza Tower judges players on their mastery of each level and ability to maintain momentum by assigning them a rating, Antonblast instead prioritizes exploration similar to Sonic the Hedgehog and collectibles ala Wario Land 4. Collecting coins that dropped from enemies and getting a “high score” only mattered to unlock aesthetic content and a few other secrets that I won’t spoil, but I never felt like I was falling short in completing a level on my own place. Peppino judged me too hard while Dynamite Anton only cared about getting to Happy Hour to score some discounted drinks.
Summitsphere has created the closest thing to a Wario Land 5 we’ll ever get, albeit for a more mature audience who is gracefully aging. Dynamite Anton is a man after my own heart. He’s angry, he’s profane, and his goal in every level is to beat the clock to get back to the bar for Happy Hour. His design is brilliant, too. I’m a 90s kid, so seeing a silly dude was designed similar to Ren and Stimpy, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Earthworm Jim is nostalgic in all the right ways. Antonblast stands on its own, however. It has forcefully staked a claim in a unique territory of ridiculousness starring Dynamite Anton (and his need for booze), Satan (and his need for being red), alongside a slew of fully-voiced characters. I want more from Summitsphere not because Antonblast fell short, but because I want to keep playing the game more, more, and more.
In case you didn’t know, Antonblast is a product of a successful Kickstarter that was fully funded twice over in 2022. Some players tend to be cautious toward Kickstarter games that will underdeliver and/or spend too much time in the development kitchen, but Summitsphere went above and beyond in developing and publishing a highly replayable and visually striking platformer that is one of the best I’ve played this year, if not tied with Pepper Grinder in its uniqueness and fun.
Tony Grayson’s soundtrack is, in a word, phenomenal. Antonblast’s groovy soundtrack pays homage to SEGA Genesis platformers. It’s Tee Lopes level of amped up and catchy that perfectly complements the fun chaos packed into every inch of Antonblast’s levels. The strumming bassline, electric guitar riffs, and electronic sounds come together beautifully. Remember how I felt like Antonblast took some inspiration from Earthworm Jim? You can hear it in several of the songs. Every time I entered a new level I was constantly excited to hear what was put together. I cannot wait for this soundtrack to make its way to streaming platforms.
Antonblast is a blast, literally. Its high-octane platforming meets speedrunning is a love letter to everything Wario fans love and have wanted for years, but highly more profane and chaotic in all the right ways. Summitsphere’s platformer is not one to miss, folks.
