Dan Geeks Out: Video Game Review #383: Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos

Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos

Super Nintendo

Nostalgia Factor:

Nostalgia is not going to play much of a factor for this review. I had never even heard of this game until just a few weeks ago when I saw SNESdrunk do a video about it on YouTube. Even though he gave it a mediocre review, I enjoyed what I saw of the game's artwork and visual design, so I told myself I'd check it out anyway.

Well, here I am checking it out.

Story:

The Los Gatos Bandidos have kidnapped of Speedy Gonzales's amigos. Playing as Speedy, it is your job to fight through all of the stages and get them back.

That's really all there is to this game's story.

Gameplay:

It becomes obvious right off the bat that the gameplay of this particular title is fashioned after that of Sonic the Hedgehog. But where Sonic succeeds in being a good game and a successful franchise, Speedy Gonzales fails.

The main goal of each stage is to run through it, rescuing as many of your amigos as you can while making it to the end without running out of time. Your amigos are kept in cages, and all you have to do is touch them to rescue them.

There are enemies you face in this game, but they are all pretty basic and easy to defeat, often requiring just one of your melee kick attacks to destroy them. There are occasional bosses to fight as well, but again nothing too challenging or special to be found here.

I came to the realization after playing just two or three stages that I'd already seen everything that this game had to offer. I could have come to that realization even sooner if I'd been paying attention. Each stage has the same objective: just run through it while collecting as many of your friends as you can. It gets repetitive FAST.

Even though Sonic games are at their core similarly repetitive, those games do a good job throwing a variety of enemies and obstacles at you - with enough twists, bonuses, and variations to standard gameplay mechanics thrown in to keep things interesting. Speedy Gonzales does none of those things. The entire game is literally just doing the same thing over and over again. And again. It's fun for a couple of stages, and then it gets old very quickly.

After the first few initial stages, this game began to feel like an absolute burden to play. I could only handle playing this game for five or ten minutes at a time on my RetroPie before saving it and playing something else. What I could have beaten in one two-hour playing session ended up taking me about five or six playing sessions to get through. I just wasn't having fun with the game and I was dragging my feet while playing it. When it was done, I was honestly glad it was over.

Graphics:

I have to give this game credit: it looks quite good. I mean, just look at these screenshots. I love the use of vibrant colors in this game, particular in the backgrounds. The characters are very well-detailed and brought to life in a manner that really pops. This really does look like a Saturday morning cartoon come to life. The graphics are the best thing about this game, hands down.

Sound:

If the game's graphics are the best thing about it, its sound is the runner up. I love the plethora of little sound effects as you play this game. The mice shouting "gracias!" when you rescue them is a thing of absolute beauty. The stage music is very good too, and got stuck in my head even after I was done playing the game. It's very authentic to Speedy Gonzales, and I love it.

Overall:

Aside from appreciating this game's music and its graphical style, I hate to say I didn't like it that much. After the sustained mediocrity of Clockwork Knight and Astal - the last two games I reviewed - Speedy Gonzales seemed equally if not more guilty of phoning it in than those two games.

While those games I felt were decidedly average, Speedy Gonzales is a game that I actively disliked playing. As I said before, the game isn't very fun. It's repetitive. It's boring. It begins to feel like a real chore after just a few levels of playing it.

I should have listened to SNESdrunk and spent my time with some other game. At least now I know that this one isn't for me. Its graphics, music, and sound effects keep this game afloat - but just barely. I won't be coming back to this one again. 1995, you disappoint me. Maybe '96 will bring better things.

THE GRADE:

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1982 reviews:

1983:

1984:

Frogger II: Threedeep!