Button City (2021)

I was really looking forward to this one, but I have to bounce off.

My main issue is that I don't really like the minigames. Since so much of the game revolves around the arcade, I think it's really important that the games therein are fun and memorable on their own. They're all very cute, but that's all I'm getting from them.

But those games aren't difficult enough to prevent me from pushing onward if I wanted more of this world, its story and the overall vibes. But the dialog is pretty long-winded for how few smirks or chuckles it's giving me, the controls feel slippery so I'm always unexpectedly losing focus on items, and the low-poly aesthetic loses its charm when I can't easily differentiate certain buildings or characters.

I think if you like the minigames, you might be able to see past those issues to enjoy the heart therein. But if you watch the trailer and you aren't excited to play the diet MOBA, oddly button-mapped rhythm game or the drift-heavy arcade racer, don't expect the vibes alone to carry you through.

• Rating: 9.5/10
• Year played: 2022
• Platform: Steam deck
• Play time: 10 hours
• Completion level: 100% (all collectables, side quests, and achievements)

Button City is a blast, I couldn't put it down this past week and ended up pushing for 100% completion. You may recognize it from the Wholesome Direct or other indie showcases - it's a short-n-sweet story driven game about a group of friends trying to save a beloved arcade, and it's packed full of neon color, nostalgic 90's references, and adorable low-poly animal characters with "tuff" attitude.

As you and your friends get up to all kinds of hijinks and mischief attempting to rescue your local arcade from being bought out by a comically evil business cat, you'll also spend a lot of time playing three different arcade minigames (plus 1 bonus visual-novel-like parody game). I was really pleasantly surprised how much fun and how approachable each of the arcade games were, since I often struggle with retro-style games. The minigames are:

Gobabots - This is a 4-v-4 team-based game that plays like a streamlined and simplified bite-sized MOBA. Each team is composed of fruit-themed heroes who are trying to collect berries from around the map and deliver them to the smoothie machine in the center, all while fighting off the other team's players who are trying to do the same thing. There's a surprising amount of depth here, and although it's not a particularly difficult game I did lose a number of times while trying out different playstyles. You have a roster of about a dozen heroes to choose from, each one categorized as either ranged, melee, or tank, and with different primary weapons and a special attack that you can unleash after landing enough basic attacks. My two favorite heroes ended up being the watermelon-themed tank with a big axe (which you can throw like a boomerang as a special attack), and the shuriken-throwing starfruit who can spin around while throwing a barrage of shuriken in an AoE special attack. Gobabots plays a big role in the game's main story, as you and your buddies (the Fluff Squad) try to win the title from your rival team (the Tuff Fluffs), so you'll end up playing quite a lot of it.

rEVolution Racer - This one is a simple but fast-paced little racing game with a vaporwave aesthetic. There's only one track, and the mechanics are pretty simple, but I found it really satisfying to get it just right. Winning at this game is all about speed and maintaining a near-constant usage of the boost ability, which you recharge by sliding and drifting around corners. If you time all your drifts correctly, you can boost the entire time, but a wrongly-timed drift will send you into the side rail and lose all your momentum. My husband, who is a more anime-inclined person than I am, saw me playing this one and immediately recognized it as an homage to Initial D, so if that's something you're into you'll probably enjoy the references and aesthetic here.

Prisma Beats - The classic DDR-like dancing rhythm game. There's nothing super groundbreaking here in terms of gameplay, but it's cute, fun, and lets you dance along to some of the awesome chiptune tracks from this game's soundtrack. I struggled a bit with the button mappings here, as I almost always do in these type of games - my brain just couldn't translate the straight row of icons to the D-pad arrows. So I was really pleased that I had picked this up on steam deck instead of switch and could easily remap them to something that made more sense to me using an action set (a secondary button layout that you can swap to whenever you want). After remapping, I really enjoyed playing this minigame and even managed to get the achievement for completing all tracks on the hard difficulty.

Goba Academy - This one is more of an easter egg minigame, as you don't play it at the arcade and it doesn't have any achievements or other goals tied to it. You come across it during the main story when you find out that your friend Lavender is really into Gobabots lore and cosplay, and even made their own game about the characters. It's a silly parody of a visual novel where you go to a japanese-style highschool with all the Gobabots, and has several different "endings" you can find.

All the games (with the exception of Goba Academy) can also be tweaked using various items and consumables you gather throughout the game. Some are cosmetic and silly, like making all the tires on the cars in rEVolution Racer gigantic, some introduce alternate game modes, like a you-vs-everyone variant of the (normally 4-v-4) MOBA game, and others tweak difficulty, either by making it slightly easier or slightly more challenging. My only complaint is that you can only use the powerups when playing the games solo - you can't use them during any story segments or when challenging various characters to a round (something you need to do somewhat often to earn currency). It'd be fun if you could at least use the cosmetics during these matches. Additionally, there were a couple odd bugs here and there - like my character's outfit getting reset every time I entered or exited an arcade game, and I had trouble getting the "all cosmetics" achievement to trigger - but nothing too major.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this game, especially getting to know the diverse cast of characters with all their quirks and interests. There are some really raw emotional moments here too, especially near the end of the game when you uncover the reason why the arcade is under threat of being sold in the first place. The tough subject matter is handled really well, and stays wholesome despite touching on some heavy subjects. There was one storyline that I feel wasn't fully explored and would have liked to see more of - the main character's relationship with his mother is a bit strained, and in a dream sequence it implies that he feels guilty for his parents' divorce, but this isn't ever brought up again later (unless I missed something) - but I don't think this brings down the storyline at all.

I would absolutely recommend this game as a fun little diversion to anyone looking for a cute, funny, and silly time that plays like a 90s cartoon and is packed with arcade game action, easter eggs, and sweet wholesome moments that make you reflect on what it felt like to just be a kid hanging out with your friends and feeling like you can take on the world.