Snow Bros. Wonderland Review

Although I grew up playing both Atari and NES games, I didn’t actually own either of those consoles. All of my cousins did, though, so I was able to play the games they had and rent other ones from time to time. Despite this, I don’t remember ever playing the original Snow Bros., which was a single screen platformer in which you had to jump onto different ledges and use snowballs to defeat enemies. As you progressed, you’d go upwards instead of down, and would move from screen to screen.

It wasn’t until I received a press release announcing Snow Bros. Wonderland — a sequel to the games released back in yesteryear, which reimagines the tried and true formula for modern devices — that I heard about the originals. When I (admittedly) skimmed and posted about that release, I was under the impression that it would be a typical platformer, and wouldn’t have puzzle elements. It wasn’t until I received a review copy that I discovered I had been wrong, and had missed important information. Why am I telling you this? Well, I’m honest, and I don’t want there to be any lies here.

Snow Bros. Wonderland released on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and PC late last year. However, due to personal tragedies and health problems, I didn’t get reviewing it until now. Hopefully this late review still interests you. My apologies for the delay, regardless.

This modern take on an old-school classic shifts things to an isometric 3D design, but still features many of the staples that made the original game(s) so popular. It begins ten years after the events of its predecessors, during which the original main characters’ children return to the Snowland kingdom that they once saved, and end up surrounded by monsters. Following this, they’re thrust into a new adventure that involves saving the kingdom once again. Obviously, that’s not a simple thing to do, and it comes with some challenge.

The general idea behind Snow Bros. Wonderland is that you’ll complete multiple stages within several worlds, totaling approximately 36 levels. At the end of each region, you’ll do battle against a relatively challenging and solidly designed boss.

These increasingly complex stages involve things like spikes, ramps, moving platforms and the like. You’ll find yourself going from the start of each one to its finish line, attempting to find keys, unlock portals and get out before the Grim Reaper comes and kills you. He’ll chase you around if you take too long.

Like its predecessor, this game requires you to defeat many different enemies, some of which are on elevated platforms. You can shoot snowballs at them, or toss them up in the air, in order to do this. There’s an aiming mechanic, and it’s pretty easy to use, with a light learning curve. The goal is to kill as many enemies as possible with one snowball, in a way that’s reminiscent of bowling or pinball. By doing this, you’ll earn the best score possible, and can use that to purchase different gear to customize your player character with.

Customizing one’s Snow Bro. helps one to identify with their avatar, and also helps to keep them identifiable during the available four player co-op. However, if you end up off screen you may find it annoying to locate your character and find your way back. The cooperative experience can be chaotic, and it’s even possible to sabotage another gamer’s snowballs.

As expected, the players are dropped into arenas where they must defeat all enemies and collect keys, and that happens often. Earning new abilities and power-ups will help them deal with these foes more effectively as the several hour long campaign progresses.

Presentation-wise, Snow Bros. Wonderland is a nice-looking and colourful game with remastered music and new compositions that fit well. The music is good for this type of game, the sound effects are solid and it runs rather well. It feels like something that was brought out of yesteryear, and features the colour, charm and design facets that you’d think of when considering a platformer from the 80s or 90s, or even the early 2000s. It’s very cutesy.

With all that being said, this is a game that I respect more than I enjoy. As mentioned above, I wasn’t expecting it to be so puzzle focused, which has never been my favourite thing. I generally don’t play puzzle games, and have only loved certain ones, like Hue and Goof Troop. Thus, Snow Bros. Wonderland wasn’t exactly for me, though I respect it and the positive impact it’s seemed to have. To me, it’s a decent but unspectacular game that is enjoyable enough, but isn’t anything special.

This review is based on the PlayStation 5 version of the game, which we were provided with.

 

 

 

Snow Bros. Wonderland Review
Visuals
76
Audio
75
Gameplay
65
Storyline
61
Reader Rating0 Votes
0
The Good Stuff
Nostalgic charm
Relatively fun and pretty well designed
Four player co-op
Decently long, at around 6 hours in length
Player customization
Looks, sounds and performs well
Pretty good boss battles
The Not-So-Good Stuff
Very puzzle focused, in terms of combat and general gameplay
A bit slower than a traditional platformer
Players can kind of get lost off-screen, and multiplayer can be chaotic
Repetitive
65