HyperParasite is an interesting take on an old genre. Immediately upon seeing it, it’s heavily reminiscent of Smash T.V., the 1990 Eugene Jarvis (creator of Robotron: 2084) arcade game that was ported to consoles and inspired a whole generation of arena-style action games. Smash T.V. itself was perhaps at least partially inspired by the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie ‘The Running Man‘, which itself was based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. So by way of King, Schwarzenegger, Jarvis, and some sort of 80s witchcraft stirring the pot, somehow we ended up with HyperParasite! Whew!
Anyway, HyperParasite from Troglobytes Games and published by Hound Picked Games and QubicGames manages to take the Smash T.V. formula, modernize it, and stand it right on its head! In HyperParasite, you control an alien hyper parasite (which is a real thing, but not the alien part) which is bent on taking over the world. Filthy humans are trying to stop you at every turn but you’ll face them down by infecting them and taking over their disgusting human bodies! Just extrude a pseudo-pod from your body when you’re in range of a viable host and hit ZL, infecting them and jumping into their body! Then you can use their special abilities to slaughter the humans and destroy their world!
HyperParasite takes that basic arena fighting twin-stick style, adds a procedurally generated level design, randomizing everything, and then caps it off with a rogue-lite icing by allowing you to harvest the brains of 15 different elite enemies in the first area alone and a whopping 60 throughout the game! Elite enemies are more powerful and upon beating them, you haul their squishy brains back to the store and put them in a containment vat. Pay the store enough money and you permanently unlock the ability to take over that character type as a parasite, much like Rogue Legacy’s ability powerups. On top of that, you can buy extra abilities and weaponry at the store, adding to your attacks and defenses, although those purchases aren’t permanent. It’s a well-designed system that makes HyperParasite incredibly fun to play.
However, HyperParasite takes a bit to, ahem, grow on you. The initial gameplay feels basic and straightforward and it’s not until you really learn the mechanics of the game and start encountering more enemies that things really get interesting. The beginning of the game is definitely a slow grind until you amass enough cash to get the ball rolling with more characters and extra bonuses. After you unlock a couple of elite brains, realize that busting open all the barrels in areas provides ample extra cash, and really get the hang of dodging and using special attacks, HyperParasite really comes into its own. A good hour or two is needed to get a solid feel for the game, so give it a bit of time and it’ll definitely be worth your investment!
The more characters you unlock, the better, and every time you die you get a random one assigned to your parasite to start, which isn’t always the easiest! Fortunately, you can always hold down the X button, burst your host apart, and go infect another unwilling participant, something you should get used to doing as soon as you’ve taken some damage and see someone you want. Success in HyperParasite is all about maximizing your efficiency, so if you see a cop to take over and your cop has already taken a hit or two, rip his body to shreds and go take over another one! Or grab a more powerful host if you’re stuck in a weak one! Anything goes, but do it fast, because a single hit can kill you in exposed parasitic form, unless you’ve gathered some powerups that randomly appear.
For anyone that grew up in the 80s, HyperParasite is an absolute goldmine of 80s references, jokes, and archetypes. It’s almost copyright-infringing how close some of the characters and enemies are to 80s movies. Almost. There’s a Ghostbuster (though that’s not what he’s called), and one of the major side enemies you fight is essentially Teen Wolf from the 1985 Michael J. Fox movie! The whole 80s vibe of the game really feels fun in a dark comedic way. The character designs are almost iconic in their representations and the gameplay is fun and rewarding but it’s still challenging. You’ll die a lot, but you won’t mind at all. There are 5 acts with wild bosses, unique areas, and lots and lots of action! Every room is a challenge and the game is a pure joy to play.
The visuals are pure 80s arcade style and they run as smooth as silk on the Switch. Gameplay is fluid and controls easily and the button mapping is great. The game is definitely a bit hard to play in undocked mode though as everything is so small. It’s highly recommended to play primarily in docked mode unless you have excellent eyesight! The various areas you unlock make for a distinctive variety to the game which in the first area seems limited (So. Much. Neon!) and the unique abilities of every single playable character add so much to the gameplay that it’s simply fun to start a new game and you don’t even care about failure after a while. This is one rogue-lite twin-stick game that you’ll definitely keep coming back to. The thump of the synth music can be pretty great too, but it might get on your nerves after a while, depending on your preferences. It complements the gameplay well though, and the creepy parasitic sound effects are absolutely great!
Every single part of HyperParasite has been well thought out and designed with care and precision. Graphically, musically, and pop-culturally, it’s dead on. And the gameplay is pure arcade action that’s precise, easy to pick up, hard to master fun that shows what true indie developers are capable of when they really let loose. Controls are tight and gameplay is fluid and responsive. There’s really nothing bad about HyperParasite unless you loathe the 80s, in which case this definitely isn’t the game for you! At $18, it isn’t the cheapest thing out there, but it’s a more than fair price for a game absolutely chock-full of content and replayability, plus the ability to play local co-op! For all of you old-school gamers that wanted something simultaneously both modern and vintage, HyperParasite is the game you’ve always longed for! Don’t miss out! Check it out today!
This review was based on a digital copy of HyperParasite for the Switch provided by the publisher. It was played in both docked and undocked modes. HyperParasite is also available on Steam, PS4, and Xbox One. While you’re at it, go watch some 80s action movies, like, oh, I don’t know, maybe The Running Man, The Thing, Big Trouble In Little China, Ghostbusters, Teen Wolf, and Rambo!