Robots in a warehouse, factory, and even the cold icy parking lot are taking over, and it’s up to you to stop them by…closing all the doors and windows?  Hey, who said video games had to make sense all the time?  Goliath Depot is a single screen 2D platform action game that takes inspiration from arcade classics like Donkey Kong, Mappy, Bubble Bobble, and even…Hotel Mario?  But it’s still a pretty good game and is available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.

Your character can run and jump, and when you are near a door or window, press a button to close it.  When all the doors and windows are closed in each level, the big door you started out at will open and you can exit it to finish the stage.  Watch out for enemies in the levels.  If you touch one of them or their attacks, (or run out of time) you’ll lose a life.  Lose them all and it’s Game Over.  When you close a door or window, sound waves will go out in both directions and if they hit an enemy, it’ll turn blue temporarily.  Then you can kick it off the screen, but it will come back after a while.  You’ll go through ten stages in four different areas.  There’s the basic warehouse, conveyor belt filled factory, the icy outdoor parking lot, and more!  After ten stages, you’ll fight a boss.

Scattered about the levels are coins.  You’ll want to collect them for three reasons.  One, if you collect all of them on a stage, you’ll get a score bonus.  Second, get enough in one run and you can buy a continue if you lose all your lives, which is very handy.  And finally, collect enough coins in total and you can buy a perk to equip to your character to make the game easier.  You can get one that makes your character run when you hold down the button, and another that makes you dash and be invincible for a second.  But I think the best is the one that lets you double jump!  The game does save your progress when you complete an area and will also save high scores and other records, and you can even unlock new characters if you’re good enough.

My only problem with this game is that it’s so darn hard!  It’s doable, but you’ll have to play the stages over and over again to get used to the enemy patterns and rules of each area.  Not to mention mastering the challenging bosses.  Maybe if they let you have more continues, or be able to equip more than one perk, it might be more fun.  But other than that, I did like this one quite a lot.  I love those kind of single screen arcade games, and if you do too, you’ll want to check this one out as well.

Kid Factor:

Goliath Depot is rated E-10 with an ESRB descriptor of Fantasy Violence.  You hit robots with sound waves and then kick them off the screen, and when your guy gets hit, you just get encased in a bubble and float back to the starting door.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the text, but not necessary just to play.  Younger gamers may find it too difficult, though.

Tags: Game Reviews