ChainStaff Review – Review – Nintendo World Report

ChainStaff’s marketing has consistently referred to it as a “brutal action-platformer” but playing through it was less brutal and more just rad as hell. It’s an incredibly creative, tightly designed platformer from veteran indie studio Mommy’s Best Games (developers of Shoot 1UP and Pig Eat Ball as well as a contributor to deep Radio Free Nintendo lore). Given how focused and creative their past games were, I expected ChainStaff to continue that aesthetic. The game delivers in spades.

You fight bugs as a warrior fused with a potentially evil parasite armed with a big gun and a versatile staff. The controls are simple, but the titular ChainStaff wields a lot of depth. It can be used as a projectile. It can be maneuvered around to be a platform or a shield. It can be used as a grappling hook to bounce around all over the place. You have the staff and a gun (and a mostly automatic side piece) and that’s it. Nothing is that complex, but the stylish and distinct levels present a lot of different enemies and platforming challenges. There are some branching paths hiding secrets, though this is a level-based experience that encourages repeat visits when you have different upgrades and abilities. Going back to the mention of how this is a “brutal action-platformer” and while I still contend it’s more rad than brutal, the difficulty does get tense. Death will come for you, violently. But I never found ChainStaff to be unfair or punishing, even if a few bosses felt bullet-spongey. There’s a part of me that thinks this is one of those 2D platformers that just jives with my experience and game prowess, but even if it does kick your ass, there is an easier difficulty option available. I appreciate the options.

There’s a story that feels very ‘80s sci-fi told in a straightforward yet stylish manner. The plot isn’t the focus, but I was surprised by how charming it was, especially once you start to get into alternate endings. Throughout the 10 levels, you come across soldiers to save. Or at least deal with. You can just save them, which will get you a relatively traditional upgrade point for health and subweapons. You can also eat their heart or suck their brains, leading to a firepower or health increase but at a cost of your humanity. Characters interact with you differently if you’re sucking brains. It’s a neat video game story.

Regardless of the narrative, this game is crushingly metal, with an excellent thematic soundtrack from Deon van Heerden (Broforce). “Crunchy” is the word that comes to mind while playing ChainStaff, something I’ve found consistent across Mommy’s Best Games catalog. The visuals are eclectic and weird, fitting the tone from the gameplay, story, and music perfectly.

ChainStaff is one of the coolest freaking platformers I’ve played in a long time. It’s just cool to dart around these vibrant levels with a neat grapple gun. It’s rewarding to toss your staff from across the screen to one shot a big enemy. It absolutely rules to throw down your staff to block projectiles and then climb up your staff to get to higher ground and lay waste to your foes. This is just a cool video game with novel gameplay mechanics and a consistently heavy metal style. If you came in here wanting another stellar Mommy’s Best Games distillation of classic 2D tropes, you’ll be satisfied. If you’ve never heard of Mommy’s Best Games before, sign up here for an incredible action platformer that will feel like a long-lost retro classic.