Woah Dave!

Genre: Platformer / Arcade

Players: 1

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Review:

Woah Dave! Is an Arcade-style Platformer seemingly inspired by the original Mario Bros. (sans the “Super”). This game was originally released on PC, mobile devices, and Nintendo 3DS in 2014, and brought to PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Wii U in 2015. It should be noted that this is a rare example of a Nintendo 3DS and Wii U game with cross-buy – if you purchase one version, you get the other version for free.

The visuals in this game are very simple, using low-quality pixel art visuals for its various characters and backgrounds, making it look like an Atari-era arcade game. This is backed by energetic chiptune music and a digitized voice for Dave himself, occasionally interjecting “Woah!”. It’s a cute and nostalgic presentation that hits the old-fashioned target it’s aiming for, even if it doesn’t impress on any technical level.

As for the gameplay, players leap from platform to platform as monster eggs and exploding skulls drop. They must bash enemies by throwing eggs or skulls at them, or destroy the eggs before they hatch using the skulls. While doing this, players collect coins and try to survive for as long as they can before they either slip up or become overwhelmed by enemies.

The classic-style gameplay present here works well enough, and has a similar feel to a game like Mario Bros. (it even has a “Woah!” block designed to look like a POW block from that game). That said, it’s a tad frustrating that players can’t confront enemies directly. The only other issue here is that the game is fairly simple, and also pretty difficult, meaning that players are sure to see a lot of the same gameplay in early areas over and over again.

Still, for those looking for a game with a classic look and feel to it, Woah Dave! Is a solid choice that channels the early days of gaming very well. On top of that, for $5, the price is right, especially if you own both a Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and can take advantage of cross-buy.

tl;dr – Woah Dave! Is an Arcade-style Platformer that channels classic games like the original Mario Bros. It’s a bit simple and a tad too tough, but overall it does a good job evoking that era of gaming. Plus, if you own both a DS and Wii U, you can get both versions for the price of one via cross-buy.

Grade: C+

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