Night Slashers
Arcade
Just when I thought I'd played every arcade beat 'em up there is to play, I have to go and stumble upon something new: Night Slashers from 1993. I knew as soon as I saw screenshots of this game that it would be something I'd have to check out. An arcade beat 'em up with a horror theme? Count me in!
Keep reading as I dive into Night Slashers for the very first time.
Story:
Like most beat 'em ups of the time, this game is pretty thin in the story department. It's the future, and the planet has been overrun by zombies and other ghoulish creatures. In come the Night Slashers to save the day!
You fight through seven stages of supernatural beings, eventually squaring off with a robotic space monster at the end of the game. Defeating him saves the planet... somehow?
Gameplay:
I wish I could say that this game brings something unique to the beat 'em up genre, but it really doesn't. If you've played X-Men, TMNT, Final Fight, The Simpsons, Golden Axe, Captain America and the Avengers, Double Dragon, Die Hard Arcade, Alien vs Predator, Hook, or any of the other dozens and dozens of titles like this, you know what to expect.
Moving right, you walk around on a 3D plane, punching and kicking bad guys until you've defeated them all. You can pick up weapons and destroy things in the environment to help you out. At the end of each stage you fight a boss character. When you defeat the boss, you move ahead to the next stage of the game, where more of the same punchy punchy kick kick goodness awaits.
This game doesn't do anything you haven't seen before. This is a good thing in the sense that Night Stalkers is a perfectly fun and playable title that you can pop it any time and have a good time playing. And it is a bad thing in the sense that it is so unremarkable, nothing about it stands out. You'll have forgotten about it 20 minutes after you're done playing it. While other games like The Simpsons and TMNT can get away with being generic beat 'em ups, it is because their personalities carry their respective games and make them memorable. This game has no personality. I suppose it does in the sense that it supposed to make you feel like a badass monster slayer, but in the long run there is absolutely nothing memorable that this game says or does.
Graphics:
Night Slashers looks really good. I can imagine that if I'd encountered this arcade unit as a kid, I would have been drawn to it. The characters are well animated and pleasing to the eye. I like the horror theme, and I like seeing the variety in enemy types that are always popping up.
The are some nice cutscenes in between stages. Your magical attacks are large, screen clearing spectacles that are nice to look at. This is a good looking game.
Sound:
Normally I don't pay much attention to the music in beat 'em ups, but I have to admit that Night Slashers has a really good original soundtrack. It's upbeat and energetic, and really fits the tone of the game perfectly. It feels like it would be right at home in a Castlevania or Contra game.
The sound effects are on-point. The smacking sound when you hit your enemy is satisfying, which is a necessity for beat 'em ups like this.
Overall:
This is a hard game for me to grade because it doesn't really do anything wrong. It's just as good and just as enjoyable as any other arcade beat 'em up from the 90s. I could put this game on when a friend is visiting and I'm sure we'd have a great time playing co-op. Where beat 'em ups are concerned, Night Slashers checks all the boxes as far as gameplay elements go.
But why is it so darn forgettable? Why did I not even hear about this game until I was 40 years old? This came out when I was eleven.
I have a theory. Iconic beat 'em ups aren't iconic because of their gameplay. They are iconic because of their themes, how those themes were such perfect snapshots of their times. Think about it. The TMNT arcade games are absolutely perfect encapsulations of that late 80s/early 90s era. Other successful beat 'em ups were hits simply because of their themes. Captain America and the Avengers is very similar to Night Slashers, gameplay wise. But Captain America and the Avengers is a game I remember, and a game I'll be revisiting with my son when he's old enough in a few years, and it's a game I plan to revisit with other friends and family as well. I'm sure I'll even burn through it in single player mode a few more times. But Night Slashers? Let's be real. As soon as I'm done writing this review, I'll probably never think of Night Slashers again.
It doesn't have that hook. It doesn't have that iconic theme or any iconic characters. It looks pretty and it sounds pretty and you might have a decent time playing it, but in the end there is absolutely nothing memorable about this game.
So I give this game a mixed review. If you're a beat 'em up connoisseur, or if you are looking for something new to show to your friends, you might get some enjoyment out of Night Slashers. If you're like me and you're just a casual fan of the genre, you won't find anything here that you haven't seen a dozen times already. That doesn't mean that this is a bad game. Not at all. It just makes it very... I don't want to say boring. How about predictable?
THE GRADE:
C+
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