Speed Runners From Hell from Pine Studios & published by Headup games. The name is definitely the game for this one. This game came off to me as very odd when we first started to play. The art, animation, & music had me excited to play. The objective is clear, clear the stage with the fastest time possible. Of course the competitive nature comes in as the SEUM has a global leaderboard for fastest times for certain levels.
Progressing through the stage, you will start to think how easy going & free the game feels, especially starting out. You will soon see that this is not the case. As the stages become more like mazes & puzzles with adding obstacles, projectiles, and even hooped rings for you to jump through. The game had us quickly wanting to throw out the keyboard entirely. The constant dying over and over and over and failing the same stage. Annoying as it sounds, that is what makes this game pretty fun.. you actually want to play. Finally figuring out a stage & getting to s new stage felt exciting. It felt as if we were really achieving something in this annoying little game.
A little more about the character, You are Marty. A demon has ripped your arm off. The same demon has also stole your keg of beer. During this robbery, you, Marty manages to rip the demons arms off. Marty then reattaches the demon to where he has lost his. Armed with this fireball shooting demon arm, your goal as Marty is to go to hell and get your beer back! Plain & simple but important goal right? You play in 1st person as Marty in a fast paced environment. Use the fireballs to unlock points during the map, get to higher points, and hit targets which unlock new temporary skills. One of these skills include ‘Reverse Gravity’ which allows Marty to reach higher points on the map. Still the higher levels you reach, the stages turn from simple point A to B stages to death stages. Swinging axe pendulums, mechanical chainsaw blades ride the ground, & cannons start to appear. Strategy and quick thinking will come into play as meeting certain standards of time will be necessary to reach the next level. The deeper you get, the more of a brain buster this game can be! Can get very stressful.
By the way, Marty is not the holding his tongue type of character and neither is the demon. Screams of “fuck yea!” are shouted by Marty when completing stages. The demon is also always in your ear as you progress through hell even coaching you as if he wants you to make it to him. But Also telling you that you suck & could do better. Sometimes when you die, you’ll even get a Mortal Kombat type “Fatality!” shouted at you. There is definitely a high level of wit being displayed at all times during the fast pace race to get to the beer stealing demon. Speed running to get deeper in hell. Sound fun right?
The Heavy Metal tracks that are played in the background keep the game hyped up as well! Gaming headphones are totally recommended along with this game. If you are wondering who the game soundtrack is made by, it is Ivan Spelljack Jitz and you pick that sound track up separately HERE
