A 2-D fighting game, Boss Rush: Mythology pits you against numerous mythological creatures one at a time. Sort of like mini-Dark Souls, this marionette fighter is challenging, loose, yet slightly technical.
You know how in the end of any retro Mega Man game the player is place into a hub screen and you enter a door to face off against each boss? Well Boss Rush: Mythology is basically that, but you play a mysterious knight and you have to kill giant beasts instead of robots. Boss fights only. No levels to traverse.
Originally armed with only a sword, each kill rewards you with gold that you can use to purchase new weapons or temporary buffs/health potions. However, the weapons are not necessarily stronger, just different. One weapon might offer a longer reach but takes longer to complete the attack animation so some weapons might work better against certain bosses.
When I fought against the first few bosses, I was frustrated by the floaty, puppet-like controls and response time. However, by the final Zeus fight, I became comfortable with the loose combat and the non-interruptible animations. It definitely takes time to adjust but I appreciated this unexpectedly floaty design. Thankfully, the Easy mode is where most players will probably spend most of their time as the higher difficulties require plenty of trial and error to fully recognize enemy patterns. Unfortunately, you cannot grind the early stages for money so there is essentially a finite amount so players will need to make wise purchase decisions. However, I found the default sword to be the most well rounded which makes the unlockable weapon system more of a moot point.
Besides fighting expected bosses like a minotaur and Godly beings like Thor and Loki, the enemy roster sometimes throws a wild curveball at the player. For example, I didn’t understand what “Hut on Chicken Legs” meant until I loaded the battle. Low and behold, it is literally a hut on chicken legs. I don’t remember reading about this mythological beast in any book but appreciate the outlandish creativity. It was a particularly tough fight too.
It only takes 1-2 hour to complete the campaign on Easy mode but it is time well spent. While it lacks significant options and replay value (no local 2p head-to-head mode), this discounted digital download by Sometimes You comes recommended as long as you are open to a low-budget slightly janky satirical take on a 1-on-1 fighter.
SCORE: 6/10
Not As Good As: the first time you played Street Fighter II in the arcade
Refreshingly Different Than: grinding through another brawler
Wait For It: a Boss Rush: Aliens/Monsters/Zombies sequel
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
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