Killer Queen Black (Switch) Review

Very special thanks to Liquid Bit for providing us with this review copy.

E3 2018 was a blast. It was, after all, the grand reveal for a brand new Smash game – theUltimate Smash game, even. I was lucky enough to be able to try the game out for the first time on the floor, and later in the Nintendo booth. I loved it: the returning stages, Ridley, Inklings, the revamped Link… all of it. It was not, however, my favorite multiplayer experience on the show. That honor actually went to a little title called Killer Queen Black. The Mango Viking and I played a few team matches, yelling at each other to grab the snail or kill the Queen, and I knew right there it was something special. It was a throwback to old arcade stand out such as Joust, but the depth of the competitive and cooperative elements of it stood out to me even from our short time with the title. I did have a few reservations in regards to the longevity of this game, of whether or not it had enough meat on its bones to sustain itself beyond a few rounds, so I was extremely excited when my review code for this title came in so I could give it a closer look.

Premise
Normally this section of the review would be devoted to story, but I think looking at the overall premise of the game makes more sense in this regard. This title is actually based on the 2013 arcade title Killer Queen, but it’s its own unique, from the ground up experience. I’m not sure exactly what the story is, although I see giant hives on buildings and temples in some of the before match artwork, so it’s roots might be somewhat apocalyptic. None of that really matters, though. This is a team based game that really shows its arcade roots. You play as one of two teams, Blue or Gold (with a Black team represented by the best of the best in the future) and you compete in a best two out of three match format. You can play over local wireless for multiplayer games, and you can have up to four friends join you locally to play other online. That’s really it though. There’s no single player to speak of beyond a very brief tutorial, so the real value comes from those that are planning to use it to play with others online. Please consider that if you are interested in purchasing this game.

Gameplay
This is the meat and potatoes of the title. As I mentioned previously, players are assigned to either a Blue or Gold team, and from there they will have to find a “path to victory.” These paths are: economic, military, and snail. All three have their benefits, and figuring out what combination of them you are pursuing, while also blocking the other team’s efforts, is a large portion of the game’s strategy. Military victory comes from killing the opposing team’s Queen 3 times. This can be done by using your own queen or soldier units, but more on this later. Economic victory comes from gathering enough berries to fill your home hive. Snail victory…comes from riding a snail to a preset finishing line on the screen. This is by far the most satisfying way to win…because that snail is slow and you have to have a lot of control of the match in order to have a successful win in this fashion. Add this to six rotating maps that drastically change the way you approach this goals, and the game never felt stale during my time with it.

You play as one of two classes, the queen (of which there is one) or a drone (or which there are three). The Queens can attack with a plunging attack that launches them downwards or a thrusting attack that launches them forwards. They can attack soldiers, drones, or the other Queen, but they need to be careful as exposing themselves to attacks can result in a win for the other team. The drones collect berries, ride the snail (or feed themselves to a snail being ridden by an opposing teams drone to buy their team time) , and can also upgrade themselves to Soldiers by using berries at different gates that can be found on the map. This allows them to gain attack abilities: sword, stinger, morning star, and laser rifle. They can not, however, carry berries or ride the snail. It’s all about balance, really. The soldiers and queen control joust style, with players having to mash buttons to achieve flight and the stage wrapping around both vertically and horizontally. It’s a simple, but effective, control scheme.

The game has three modes; all centered around online play. I can not reiterate this enough: this is a fun game to play online, preferably with friends, but if you do not plan on playing it online then there is no real reason to purchase it. You can play quickplay, ranked, or custom. I tried all three, but the majority of my time was with quickplay. The game has built in chat, which works well enough, but I found most other users were not using it. That’s a shame, as this game shines when you’re communicating. I played several games with online with the Mango Viking, and it was a much more rewarding experience when we were yelling at each other to protect the Queen or stop the snail. Quickplay allows you (and friends you invite into your party) to engage in matches that won’t affect your overall rank. Ranked is for competitive play, and custom is an invite feature for friends. You can assign the CPU to control the other players if you don’t have a full team of 8 in this mode. As far as the online performance, it was flawless.

Presentation

This game has an old school feel, for better or worse. The sprite work is fairly simple overall, but I never had any issues knowing what something was supposed to be, and some of the backgrounds were quite beautiful. The characters themselves have a lot of personality (I especially enjoy the look of the snail) and the victory dances always made me smile. That being said, there is not a whole lot of variety. You can change the “shirts” of your drones, but that does not make them stand out much. When I first started playing, I would often lose track of my character as a result, and this issue was compounded in handheld mode. This is definitely a game I suggest playing on the big screen. The music was good but not astounding; it perfectly fits the game but doesn’t really stick with you. I was also disappointed by the lack of music during matches, but the overall sound effects fits the game very well.

Verdict
Do I suggest this game? It really depends on your gaming habits. I can think of very few experiences that I had as much fun with when playing with friends, but its lack of good offline single and multiplayer may limit the appeal. Quickplay was fun, but even then it wasn’t quite the same as when I was playing with someone I knew. If you can get some friends together, either locally or online, to play this game with regularly then go for it. If you’re not someone that games online often, however, your money can probably be better spent elsewhere.