Guacamelee! 2 Critic Reviews

Super-charged in almost every way, the game makes its predecessor look like a backyard wrestling match.

Guacamelee! 2 is easily one of the most fun games I’ve played this year and it’s hard to fault it even at its most infuriatingly challenging moments. The game has incredible presentation, great level design and is just as good whether playing solo or in co-op. If you’re looking for a light hearted Metroidvania or 2D platformer to play on the PS4, then you need Guacamelee! 2 in you life.

Featuring some of the most engaging platforming, combat, and exploration this generation, Guacamelee! 2 excels as a videogame, full stop. Its visuals are at times mesmerising, rooting its aesthetic in traditional Mexican art; the core gameplay loop has a low skill floor and a high skill ceiling, encouraging mastery of the mechanics; and the script irons out the kinks of the first game's story in order to offer a more compelling narrative with a stronger comedic identity. Guacamelee! 2 is without a doubt one of the strongest Metroidvanias in recent memory.

Not once during my playthrough of Guacamelee 2 did I feel bored or look at the clock.

A colourful, enthralling adventure, Guacamelee! 2 is a superb sequel to a superb game.

Fast, fun, funny, challenging, and chicken-filled, Juan Aguacate shows us he’s still got a few tricks up his mangas (sleeves), especially when he takes on his chicken form.

Guacamelee 2 is a hilarious, challenging, and rewarding follow-up to Drinkbox’s original. It expands on the first’s ideas in so many great ways, and marries a complex but understandable set of moves to both its combat and platforming.

Guacamelee 2 takes a very solid base of the original and adds enough to prevent this iteration from being stale. The new mechanics blend in seamlessly and adds to the experience. The humor hits, more than it misses and the visuals are vibrant like it’s predecessor. All in all if you had to choose only on metroidvania-style game to play in 2018, make sure Guacamelee 2 is high on your list.

If you enjoyed the original Guacamelee!, this sequel is an absolute must. It’s not going to particularly surprise you in any way, but it’s certainly going to have you grinning from ear to ear as you play. Also, if you liked the original Guacamelee! but found its platforming and bosses a little too hard in the latter stages, you’ll find Guacamelee! 2 to be much more enjoyable.

Guacamelee 2! is everything one could ask for in a sequel. It packs in what everyone loved about the original, while building on it enough to make it well worth tagging into the ring for once again. Killer tunes, well-designed combat, and challenging bosses are all high points for a game that had a tough act to follow. It's also legitimately funny, with its references paying homage to all kinds of pop culture, from Sonic The Hedgehog and River City Ransom, even to the Star Wars themed Luchador called Boba Fight. Guacamelee 2! is a perfect second helping to the hearty offering that was the first title, and fans of the series will be pleased through and through.

Everything about Guacamelee 2 comes off as smarter and more thoughtful than the first game, even while indulging in its self-aware shenanigans and Rick & Morty-esque dimensional hijinks. The game never stops finding new ways to hook you in, to the point that even the most painstaking and intensive playthroughs feel like they just fly by.

I haven’t had as thoroughly as joyful of an experience with any other game this year and I expect I’ll be hard pressed to find another like it any time soon.

Though it sticks rigidly close to the template that made the original such a success it ultimately matters little - Guacamelee 2 is one of the finest platformers of the year.

A game that's built on the first's game basics, and manages to improve almost everything from that game, making Guacamelee! 2 an excellent metroidvania, but a less surprising game.

Guacamelee! 2 is the best sequel that Drinkbox could have made.

By drawing inspirations from Mexican culture respectfully, the development team have created a tight platformer that includes some very clever writing and satirical looks at other games in the genre, and it is quite possibly one of the best platformers of 2018.

Full of a hilarious and vibrant cast of characters, it’s hard to fault Guacamelee 2 — especially at $30 AUD.

Guacamelee! 2 does basically everything else right, and arguably better than a lot of other Metroidvania games on the market. Its core gameplay is tremendous, building off the original and feeling like a true step forward.

It improves on many of the ideas of the original while adding some fun new additions like the more versatile chicken form and better platforming. Its jokes are still a bit hit-or-miss and some combat sections slow down the flow, but Guacamelee 2 shouldn’t be missed.

Look at Guacamelee 2 as gaming's equivalent of NXT Takeovers or New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual G1 Climax tournaments. They may not feel overly different from each another, but there's no questioning their high quality and they'll leave you anxiously awaiting the next main event.