Uppers is a wonderfully goofy beat-em-up brawler that combines enjoyable mechanics with a suitably silly anime story to strong results. It’s a bit rough visually, but fans of shonen anime especially will find a lot to love here.
Uppers
Developer: MARVELOUS
Price: $30
Platform: PC (reviewed)
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review
If there’s one thing I love on this earth, it’s shonen anime. A bunch of guys fighting one another in various over-the-top ways just appeals to my most base desires, which is what made Uppers so appealing. If ever there was a game that embodied the characteristics of shonen anime without being based on one, it would be Uppers, and god bless it for that.
You start the game as Ranma and Michiru, two bros who have come to Last Resort Island to pick up girls. On Last Resort Island, one’s strength in battle is what makes them appealing to women, meaning the two pals have to brawl with all sorts of delinquents in order to get noticed by the girls on the island. Eventually, they team up with some fellow hooligans in order to work their way up the island’s pecking order through sheer determination and training alone. It’s a perfectly fitting story that encapsulates the best and silliest parts of shonen stories while blowing up all the tropes by 110 percent.
The gameplay of Uppers is fairly standard for a 3D beat-em-up but with a unique twist. You have a number of strong and light attacks at your disposal along with throws and special moves. Each stage is littered with schoolgirls who cheer you on, and who give you requests in combat. One might ask you to throw five opponents while another will ask you to perform a Pole attack using a nearby utility pole. Fulfilling these conditions earns you stat boosts as the girls cheer as well as a love letter from one of the girls. Combat rewards experimentation with the game’s many combos. In a particularly fanservice-y move, hitting foes past these girls makes their skirts fly up, leading to a Panty Slots roulette that unlocks new panties for girl characters and provides stat buffs while showing panty shots. It’s a tad bit much for me personally, but it fits the tone of the game perfectly.
“It’s all kinds of ridiculous and I wouldn’t have it any other way, as it sets Uppers apart in a fun way. “
Progressing through Uppers unlocks new characters that have their own playstyle. You can mix and match teams using these unlocked characters, which makes going back to stages far more interesting. You also get to appoint a Queen to your team, which is a female character from the story who accompanies you on missions and gives you various boosts. You can dress your characters and queens up in different clothing using points you gain from missions, which adds some basic customization to the overall package.
There’s a lot of over-the-top fun to be had in Uppers, largely thanks to the comical attacks and visual effects that occur in combat. It’s almost like Yakuza at times, as you slam foes into basketball hoops, stick them upside down in the ground like flag-poles, or whip motorcycles at them with ease. Even regular dash attacks can send weaker foes flying with a smoke trail behind them, to comedic results. It’s all kinds of ridiculous and I wouldn’t have it any other way, as it sets Uppers apart in a fun way.
Visually, Uppers is just alright. It was originally a Vita game, so the cel-shaded and less detailed models make sense, but they’re still a bit rough. The player and Queen models are okay and full of personality, but enemy models, cheering girls, and many of the stages seem to blend together over time. The music is catchy and energetic, while the voice-acting is perfectly hammy and dramatic.
The Final Word
Uppers is a fun and frantic beat-em-up that uses its tone to perfectly capture that shonen anime charm. It’s a bit rough visually, but the varied gameplay and wacky concept make it an excellent choice for fans of the Yakuza games or shonen stuff.
MonsterVine Review Score: 4 out of 5 – Good
