Video Game Review: Popslinger

Developer & Publisher: Funky Can Creative

Genre: Beat-‘Em-Up

Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch

Ah, to be the hero of a 90s cartoon or video game again. Things were simpler and also kind of stupid, but who didn’t love it? You go forward, you fight the bad guy, and you win. Nowadays, there’s often a twist where the bad guy is someone’s father, or they’re doing the wrong thing for the right reason, and all the plot and motivation gets tangled up. So it’s nice to have a straightforward path to getting from point A to B in terms of villainy and heroism, and we take that road surrounded by a funky soundtrack, neon saturation and some tricky combo shooting with Popslinger.

Popslinger is a world where a heroic title is bestowed upon someone who is then given a soda pop shooting gun and asked to go eliminate the bad guys who’ve inhabited the world. I say this because our main character, Ria, is mentored and assisted by the digital ghost of a previous Popslinger, named Gin. Ria and Gin have a good dynamic that we see play out in visual novel style cutscenes between worlds, and the energy between them (both spoken and read) is pretty fun to behold. Anyways, it turns out the world of Popslinger is now being taken over by a coven of evil people called Corazones, and they want to turn up the dark and blot out the joy and groove from everyone forever. Ria, thinking this is either a dream or just a natural turn of events, dives whole hog into the role without even considering risk to life or limb. Something that Gin really tries to impress upon Ria, but she just isn’t receptive. Grab your soda gun and hit the streets, it’s time to be a Popslinger!

Playing as a 2D open zone shooter, Popslinger asks players to do one of two things. One, it asks you to shoot every single grunt that comes across your path, because they will never be your friends. Two, it asks you to try and shoot them in a colorful sequence, either four or eight at a time, and it rewards you for doing so. These rewards are also a double handed event, as you get a one-time useable skill and the soundtrack also changes. Usually the soundtrack will just gradually improve, like adding a base line or turning up the synth, but those eight sequence shots really boost the overall sound quality and put you in a truly funky mood. I highly recommend trying to get an eight sequence at least once per stage to fully appreciate the soundtrack, because Popslinger has some of my favorite non-traditional scoring in recent memory. It was so good that I found the Bandcamp page and bought the music directly, because it’s either free or a buck and I definitely think it’s worth owning a futurefunk album like this.

As for the powerups, Popslinger has a lot of hit or miss moments in terms of the shooting aspect. On the one hand, some of the powerups (like Turret or Double) do a great job of balancing out one of my bigger complaints, which is Ria’s incredibly slow shot speed. Firing one bullet at a time with a sizable delay between shots means that short fights get drawn out into long ordeals. Having Gin appear and help out for a temporary amount of time really cleans things up, and the Turret especially can be useful in boss battles. On the other hand, the Shield is a joke: it protects you from taking damage only once, but it still causes you to flinch like you got hit, which can easily set you up for a second round of very real damage (and damage breaks your combo sequence, hindering your ability to get more powerups). Also, the Healing powerup should be very useful, but there’s a delay before it gets used, meaning you need to be in a safe spot before trying to recover health, which, hint, I’m recovering health because I’ve been damaged: I don’t have time to hide and be safe.

The aesthetic for Popslinger is off the charts, and I mean that in the absolute best way. The anime-inspired character design comes through with every sprite, from the lowliest slime mob to some of the bigger and more impressive Corazone bosses. I really appreciate when we see these homages to time period animes, and it felt like Popslinger was really pulling from the Ranma ½ era, which is a sweet spot in terms of visuals and also ridiculous plots. The decision to also soak everything in extreme neon works as well: it comes across less like a wink and a nod and much more like an individual stylistic choice. The fierce colors, combined with the backgrounds and music, evoke a world where I can totally believe that a Popslinger is a legendary being that comes about to fight off the evil every once in a while.

The biggest takeaway from Popslinger is the aspiration to make a game that is accessible but also challenging in an intentional, creative way. While the premise is very simple, it takes a lot to get better at combining shooting, dodging and getting a proper sequence going, as enemies are never going to conveniently only be one color for very long. I compare it to certain rhythm games, but not as straightforward as Deemo or the like. It actually gave me the same ideas as HarmoKnight, without the fixed running as an element to it. You feel so much more rewarded for understanding the game and how to play it, and, as the difficulty ramps up, it becomes more satisfying to be in the groove for staying on top of things. Now, keep in mind, you can be totally tone deaf and still rock out this game (I did a couple of levels muted to confirm this), but there’s a more synergetic feeling when you experience the music and the gameplay in the same vein.

Overall, I quite enjoyed my time with Popslinger, and I think this Switch-exclusive could make a good splash with the right audience. Come for the visuals and the music, stay for the challenging shooting, and take a break in between with the witty and charming banter that comes between Ria, Gin and literally anyone who will talk to them (even if they are salty). Don’t sleep on this game: grab your headphones and let’s pop some hearts!