Marathon Monk – Demo Impressions
Marathon Monk is a running 2d platformer developed by Jesse Crafts Finch for Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG). Marathon Monk released February 4, 2012 on the Xbox 360 and retails for 80 msp. I played running platformers in the past, some good some bad. Some 2D platformers just don’t fit the “running” gameplay which is the case of Marathon Monk judging strictly from the demo.
The main title screen had a few menus including Press Start to Begin, Press X to Learn How to Play, Press Y For Credits and Press B to Quit. I immediately went into the Learn How to Play section and studied the controls. The buton layout via the Xbox 360 gamepad: A-jump/double jump, B-dash, X-dive kick/slide, A-climb, B-climb +dash and X-climb+slide. To make a long story short i did not like the button layout or controls for Marathon Monk. The reason being they are more suited for a game where the screen isn’t scrolling. In other words the button layout is suited for a normal 2D platformer.
Pressing button combinations while making double jumps to save your life the entire game wasn’t fun. I died alote just trying to navigate the small platforms let alone doing the button combinations to take out enemies in front of me. Now if Marathon Man was a normal 2D platformer where you can take your time and navigate the level accordingly the button layout wouldn’t even be an issue. The most complicated aspect is disposing of enemies while the screen is being pushed. If you get hit once by the enemy you have to start the level over.
The learning curve is steep with this game when it shouldn’t be. What originally made me want to play Marathon Monk was at first glance. Marathon Monk has a really good artstyle with nice texture work and a fluid animation system. The demo took place during a sunny day with trees, platforms and enemies scattered about. The visuals gave me a pleasant vibe despite the fact died alote. The music also contributed to Marathon Monk’s light hearted atmosphere.
The presentation as a whole was solid except for the running gameplay aspect. Although taking out enemies was a tough task it was fun when i succeeded. You have to slide, dive kick and slash with your Monk protagonist to defeat enemies. I know i wrote about how i died alote while traversing the demo level. There is a technique that saves your life and that is double jumping. I can’t tell you how many times i almost fell to my death only to be saved by double jumping and grabbing a ledge.
Marathon Monk does many things right. The visuals and music was good. The combat was actually decent as well. What I didn’t enjoy was the running game concept. It throws off all platforming and combat in the game making Marathon Monk not nearly as fun as it could be if it was just a normal platformer. I do respect the concept that is behind the game and its marketing regarding “running”. I must reiterate this game would be better suited without it. Thanks for reading.
