An Arcade Throwback (With Balls)

‘Slam and Roll’ is an ambitious tribute to arcade-era action platformers that plays tight and rewards mastery. Choosing from a roster of athletically inclined pre-teens to save the world from aliens who are trying to steal all of Earth’s monuments seems like as good a premise as any for an arcade game, and I’ll admit that it is satisfying to whack bad guys with tennis balls until they blast off into a chain reaction of destructive, screen-clearing combo fodder.

Firmly rooted in an early 90’s aesthetic, there’s power-ups and pizza aplenty, but it’s the infusion of modern amenities that keep your slamming skills tested to the limits. There are unlockable characters with different stats (and representing different sports) as well as secret levels rewarded for high performance across the hundreds of levels in the ‘Slam and Roll’ story mode to help preserve the feeling of progress. Even when a random level seems to be stumping you, you will feel encouraged to try a new approach with a different radical character or to go back and unlock more stars in previous levels to help you tighten your grip on the game’s signature Bubble Bobble-style capture-and-blast-off mechanic.

The game’s premise works on its face, and even presents a lovely linear tutorial at its onset that teaches you the core mechanics (some a bit too early) immediately before you jump into the game’s story. It’s hard to argue with ‘Sports Kids save the Eiffel Tower’ as a core story-driver, and it gives us an excuse for globetrotting and visual flavor throughout the hundreds of increasingly difficult story levels. ‘Slam and Roll’ is charming on its face, and the high difficulty feels like a proper tribute to arcade-era quarter-munchers, not an oversight or balance issue.

The boss fights in the story mode feel frantic and fun, testing your assimilation of the level’s gimmick through rapid-fire repeat attempts. Each level doesn’t take more than 40 seconds or so, and the difficulty truly stems from your own plan of attack on each stage. There’s just enough variance in enemy movement and behavior to prevent rigidly scripted approaches, but the general concept of each level’s layout and enemy distribution makes clearing them a genuine accomplishment. Getting multiple stars on a level is never a given. In my playthrough, I passed a large number of stages with zero stars, just happy to have survived and advanced.

‘Slam and Roll’ ultimately plays like a high-octane modern Bubble Bobble or Mario Bros (1983) arena platformer, but with a similar progression rhythm to a Super Meat Boy or Cloudberry Kingdom. It will offer vast replayability for those who find it to be their cup of tea. For those who don’t immediately grasp the main combat loop, the lack of mechanical variance and steadily increasing difficulty may create friction that prevents retention. It’s not easy! But it’s good, and will reward you with a surprisingly deep progression system if you can find the fun in it.