80
Smelter joins elements of action platformers and real time strategy games in an effort that produces a marvelous tribute to the 16-bit era. With a fun and captivating exploration and great combat mechanics, Smelter has all the ingredients to stand out in the Nintendo Switch catalogue and make a name for itself for all the good reasons.
70
With its eye-catching pixel art style and strong visual and tonal identity, Smelter really could have been the complete package. Unfortunately, uneven gameplay, a strange choice in upgrade paths and difficulty spikes that only led to frustration as opposed to the joy of a challenge left a sour taste in my mouth. Fans of the genre should still find a lot to love in this title, so long as it’s approached with a heavy dose of patience.
60
This game has the makings of something really great. The art and sprite work is outstanding. Wildly inconsistent difficulty jumps, frustratingly long bosses, fights, check point lengths and cheap deaths all ruin what absolutely would have been a title much higher rated. The majority of the experience is fun, with a good difficulty level, but inevitably there will be these randomly, absolutely killer, difficulty walls, which ruin how good it was going up to that point.
5
As a massive Actraiser fan, I was excited for this one. It has the basic element of switching between side scrolling and city building works well as an overall structure. The platforming is quite good, but the sim part is a bit convoluted and not that well explained. There are some frustrating difficulty spikes which is bad enough for the action sections, but a real chore for the city sections. The story is fine with a fair bit of humor. Not sure why it had to be Adam and Eve. I guess just so Adam can be the one to take the apple while Eve innocently watches and then goes to save him. OMG so clever and subversive! Anyway, that's as far as the biblical theme goes. Not that I expected any different.
So, there is a lot of good here, but the frustration factor overwhelms the enjoyment. When I finished it, I wasn't so much satisfied as relieved.
8
Appropriately named, as it combines elements of multiple styles of gaming, Smelter is a game that defies a simple explanation. One moment having you tackle enemies as a side-scrolling adventure, the next having you take on tough precision platforming levels (that are optional, but who can turn down a challenge), and then finally challenging you to engage in some real-time strategic combat in the initial going it can be a lot to take in. While I wouldn’t say all aspects are firing on all cylinders, for me the strategic element felt more bolted on than polished enough to stand on its own when compared to the other areas, it does make for an engaging experience that keeps things interested and a bit unpredictable at times. While I’d still say the thrilling opening anime sequence overshadows the in-game excitement a bit (it’s pretty damned cool and taps into my child of the 80s brain heavily) even with as many titles as I’ve played through on the Switch this stands out as being its own thing, and pretty confidently so, making it notable and worth a look. ****/2021/04/mini-reviews-april-27th-edition.html
4
The premise of the game, as one inspired by Actraiser, is not bad, as explained by the critic reviews. For the core game play, the game should receive a score of 70 or 80. However, one problem knocks it down by 10 points: the inability to save your progress while inside a platformer stage, coupled with the high difficulty of said stages. So once you start playing a stage, you have to either clear it, or you have to quit the stage and lose all your progress inside the stage. High-difficulty platformers are common these days, but few have no-save stages of this length, which is a gross inconvenience. And then a bug knocks it all the way down to 40 for me. The game sometimes crashes when trying to load the strategy map. When this happens, you do lose all your progress in the platforming stage you just played, be it a stage with hard platforming sections and a tough boss fight, or tricky trials you struggled hard to beat. This has happened too many times for me to recommend this game until they fix this bug.
Smelter
Released On:
Apr 22, 2021
Metascore
Generally Favorable
75
User score
Mixed or Average
5.7
My Score
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
75
56% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
44% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Apr 22, 2021
90
Smelter is a meticulously crafted genre hybrid that almost does everything right. The margin for error with its design is so slim that it might be some kind of gaming miracle. A challenging and captivating experience from start to finish, Smelter is an absolute must play. Here’s hoping this isn’t the last time we see this dichotomous duo.
Oct 13, 2021
80
Smelter joins elements of action platformers and real time strategy games in an effort that produces a marvelous tribute to the 16-bit era. With a fun and captivating exploration and great combat mechanics, Smelter has all the ingredients to stand out in the Nintendo Switch catalogue and make a name for itself for all the good reasons.
User score
Mixed or Average
5.7
33% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
33% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
33% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Jan 18, 2022
8
Appropriately named, as it combines elements of multiple styles of gaming, Smelter is a game that defies a simple explanation. One moment having you tackle enemies as a side-scrolling adventure, the next having you take on tough precision platforming levels (that are optional, but who can turn down a challenge), and then finally challenging you to engage in some real-time strategic combat in the initial going it can be a lot to take in. While I wouldn’t say all aspects are firing on all cylinders, for me the strategic element felt more bolted on than polished enough to stand on its own when compared to the other areas, it does make for an engaging experience that keeps things interested and a bit unpredictable at times. While I’d still say the thrilling opening anime sequence overshadows the in-game excitement a bit (it’s pretty damned cool and taps into my child of the 80s brain heavily) even with as many titles as I’ve played through on the Switch this stands out as being its own thing, and pretty confidently so, making it notable and worth a look. ****/2021/04/mini-reviews-april-27th-edition.html
Mar 12, 2024
5
As a massive Actraiser fan, I was excited for this one. It has the basic element of switching between side scrolling and city building works well as an overall structure. The platforming is quite good, but the sim part is a bit convoluted and not that well explained. There are some frustrating difficulty spikes which is bad enough for the action sections, but a real chore for the city sections. The story is fine with a fair bit of humor. Not sure why it had to be Adam and Eve. I guess just so Adam can be the one to take the apple while Eve innocently watches and then goes to save him. OMG so clever and subversive! Anyway, that's as far as the biblical theme goes. Not that I expected any different.
So, there is a lot of good here, but the frustration factor overwhelms the enjoyment. When I finished it, I wasn't so much satisfied as relieved.
May 4, 2021
80
While there are some moments that frustrate or drag a little during its runtime, Smelter is quite impressive on the whole. It’s not difficult to spot its inspirations, but it does its own thing well enough that it avoids the pitfall of feeling like a lesser copy. Fans of 16-bit action games will definitely want to give it a look.
Apr 22, 2021
80
One of those rare titles that takes inspiration from the classics but manages to forge its own identity, Smelter is a breath of fresh air that uses its influences very wisely, assisted to excellence by generally pretty terrific level design with only a handful of lesser segments bringing things down just a tad. The proceedings feel confident, original and polished, with gorgeous graphics and an outstanding soundtrack that calls to mind the likes of Mega Man X4 for its action stages and evokes Yuzo Koshiro's majestic ActRaiser score for its side-scrolling levels.
Jul 20, 2021
70
With its eye-catching pixel art style and strong visual and tonal identity, Smelter really could have been the complete package. Unfortunately, uneven gameplay, a strange choice in upgrade paths and difficulty spikes that only led to frustration as opposed to the joy of a challenge left a sour taste in my mouth. Fans of the genre should still find a lot to love in this title, so long as it’s approached with a heavy dose of patience.
Apr 22, 2021
70
With enjoyable sim gameplay, an engaging element combat system, and excellent boss fights, Smelter is a game with a lot of good pieces across 12-15 hours of play. Unfortunately, it never becomes more than the whole of its parts. The platforming level design feels a bit unremarkable, and the myriad challenge levels placed intrusively within the main levels ruin the pacing. Still, if you love ActRaiser or Mega Man X, there’s enough to make Smelter worth recommending.
Jun 25, 2021
60
This game has the makings of something really great. The art and sprite work is outstanding. Wildly inconsistent difficulty jumps, frustratingly long bosses, fights, check point lengths and cheap deaths all ruin what absolutely would have been a title much higher rated. The majority of the experience is fun, with a good difficulty level, but inevitably there will be these randomly, absolutely killer, difficulty walls, which ruin how good it was going up to that point.
Jul 7, 2021
4
The premise of the game, as one inspired by Actraiser, is not bad, as explained by the critic reviews. For the core game play, the game should receive a score of 70 or 80. However, one problem knocks it down by 10 points: the inability to save your progress while inside a platformer stage, coupled with the high difficulty of said stages. So once you start playing a stage, you have to either clear it, or you have to quit the stage and lose all your progress inside the stage. High-difficulty platformers are common these days, but few have no-save stages of this length, which is a gross inconvenience. And then a bug knocks it all the way down to 40 for me. The game sometimes crashes when trying to load the strategy map. When this happens, you do lose all your progress in the platforming stage you just played, be it a stage with hard platforming sections and a tough boss fight, or tricky trials you struggled hard to beat. This has happened too many times for me to recommend this game until they fix this bug.
SummaryYou are Eve, fresh out of Eden and armed with a living suit of armor. Explore a dangerous new world, battle its bizarre denizens and expand your empire in a desperate journey to find Adam. Smelter is a strategy, action-platformer combo inspired by classics from the 16-bit era. Lead Smelter and his faithful Zirm forces by expanding Smelte... Read More
Rated Tfor Teen
Platforms:
- PlayStation 4
- PC
- Nintendo Switch
- Xbox One
- PlayStation 5
Initial Release Date:Apr 22, 2021
Developer:
Publisher:
