Dogurai looked terrible to me. Now bear with me here, it’ll be worth it. The screenshots of the game looked like a Game Boy school project from a 90s high school computer science student. It frankly looked boring and tedious, like many of the flood of random shovelware indie games out there. I wasn’t even particularly interested in playing it when I received the review copy we were given. Yay! Another $5 game that isn’t worth playing. But then I played Dogurai. Make no mistake about it, this is one absolutely awesome game!
Dogurai, from Hungry Bear Games and QUByte Interactive, is a straightforward action platformer that absolutely screams Mega Man with almost every design choice. Sure, there are no special weapons here that you have to use, but the level design is pure Mega Man. It’s gruelling, it’s fast, it’s hard as hell, but it’s fair and playable too, with a responsive, split second control scheme that works well on the Switch. The visuals do not match the absolute masterwork that is Dogurai’s gameplay either. They’re stylized and quite obviously based on the original Game Boy’s limited sprite and color palette, which might turn more than a few players off. It certainly lowered my expectations, and boy, was I wrong.
Sure, you start out with a classic green Game Boy screen, but as it turns out, each of the eight levels has a different color which matches the environment you’re playing through. Orange in the lava level, blue in the wind one, brown in the desert, and so on and they all work visually, changing things up just enough to keep it fresh. Animations are simple but effective, with enemies blowing apart and swords swinging, lasers blasting and a wide variety of enemies that change up just when you’re getting used to the attacks.
What really blew me away though was the shift in mechanics. I thought I knew what Dogurai had to offer after I’d beaten a couple levels. Then all of the sudden there’s ice all over a level and I’m slip-sliding all over the place with crazy jumps and vicious enemies. Then I’m suddenly running through a level and I come out flying down the level on a motorcycle, completely unanticipated! Every stage is equally challenging too, with shifts in the way you have to approach jumps, rapidly flowing lava that forces you to make split second decisions or die, and fans blowing you off of tiny platforms as you try to make your way through levels. The whole game is a dance of precision that’s challenging and fun at the same time.
You’re going to die a lot in Dogurai but it doesn’t really matter too much. There’s no life count and you restart at certain waypoints to avoid the frustration of having to play a whole level over again. Bosses are fairly simple with basic designs and decent patterns but nothing outrageous. The real challenge is getting through the level to get to the bosses!
Mechanics, as I’ve stated, are fantastic in Dogurai. Timing is everything and sailing through a level isn’t easy. Every jump, every dodge, everything is precise and responsive. As a Dog/Samurai, you’re even able to somehow cut enemy bullets in half, eliminating the need to jump out of the way! It’s a pretty cool mechanic. It feels incredibly gratifying when you’re at point blank range while an enemy fires and his bullet spreads out past you as you cut him to ribbons. Expect the unexpected with Dogurai because it simply doesn’t disappoint.
Music is old-school chiptune style and it fits the gameplay well, pacing the game and making it feel exciting while still maintaining that retro sound. In combination with the vintage graphics, it’s almost surreal to play a game that moves as fast as Dogurai and sounds like this. There’s not a lot to say about the soundtrack otherwise, as it’s likely not something you’ll be downloading, but it definitely keeps the pulse rate up while you’re playing. Sound effects are similarly vintage and charming. There’s honestly a lot to love here!
One of the best surprises with Dogurai had nothing to do with the gameplay, the graphics, or anything else you might expect though. I get that this is a small game that efficiently uses data, but I’m used to the Switch having terrible load times, especially in portable mode. However, Dogurai loads almost instantly! You can start the game, it boots up, and you’re playing in seconds! It’s absolutely fantastic and I wish more games could manage feats like this because it’s one of the things that really kept me coming back for one more run at a level. Fast load times are rare these days and Dogurai really tops the list!
Speaking of portable mode, Dogurai plays well in both docked and portable mode and I found that playing in portable had no significant effect on my gameplay. It’s such a well-designed game that the simple controls work equally well on the Switch Controller Pro or the Joy-Cons, and it looks great on anything because of the intentional low pixel style. Eventually I did get rid of the border just to make the screen a bit bigger while playing portable (which is a nice option too) but it’s certainly more than playable in bordered mode as well.
It’s hard to find good games these days. It’s significantly harder to find good games for $5. Dogurai is that rare game that is awesome, cheap, and plays like a dream. It’s not the longest game at only eight levels, but the care with which every single aspect of the game was designed and the low price point more than makes up for its length. It’ll appeal to hardcore platformer and Mega Man fans, but might be too challenging for more casual players as this is a game that will definitely take a bit of patience and practice and more than a bit of daring to beat!
This review was based on a digital copy of Dogurai provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes and was absolutely fantastic on both! Dogurai is also available for Steam and PS4. All screenshots are from actual gameplay.