Move or Die: Unleashed

Genre: Platformer / Party Game

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local, Local Wireless, Online)

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Review:

Move or Die: Unleashed is a game that combines Platformer and Party Game elements, with the core hook that your character needs to keep moving on the ground or gradually lose health. This game was originally released on iOS in 2013, ported to PC in 2016, ported to PlayStation 4 in 2019, and then to Nintendo Switch in 2022 with “Unleashed” added to it.

Graphically, there’s not much to Move or Die – it features simple, squat, cartoony characters that are almost chibi-esque in design in front of some rather bland-looking backgrounds. The visual focus here is clearly all being placed on the fast-paced and explosive action, which works well enough for the game but isn’t going to impress anyone.

On the other hand, this game’s music is fantastic, with some great fast-paced synthesized tunes like What’s Up With Furball, Dance of the Derpy Chicken, Joe Looks Concerned Again, and Tick Tock, Time’s Up. In addition to great music, the “super serious” announcer is a laugh riot, with plenty of funny comments during the match.

When it comes to the gameplay, the core Platforming is fairly simple and not especially good. In fact, most of this game can be played using just one button and a directional input. What makes this game special is the great variety of game modes that shuffle from match to match, and the rapid-fire frequency that keeps players from having to wait too long, and ensures that even if you play a game mode you don’t care for, you’ll soon be playing a different one. This game also has a huge wealth of content to unlock, including dozens of the aforementioned game modes and character skins.

The multiplayer support here is mostly fantastic too, with support for local multiplayer, local wireless, and online multiplayer. Unfortunately, it was this last one that gave me issues. Half the time it worked fine, and half the time it wouldn’t even let me connect to a server, which was frustrating, especially since this game touts a number of nice online features like the ability to pool your efforts with other players to get bonuses.

Still, while it may have a few flaws, overall this is a Party Game that is an absolute blast, with a wonderful fast pace and lots of variety. If you’re looking for another game to add to your Party Game rotation, Move or Die is well worth a consideration.

tl;dr – Move or Die: Unleashed is a Platformer and Party Game built around a simple concept – your character must constantly keep moving along the ground or lose health. However, what makes this really special is the huge wealth of fun game modes and unlockables, the wonderfully fast pace, the killer soundtrack and the hilarious announcer. It has a few issues with its online, but overall, if you’re looking to add a game to your Party Game list, definitely give this one a look.

Grade: B

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