Beyblade is a name synonymous with my childhood, and a lot of my adult life too. I remember growing up and having all my favourite blades, the stadiums. My school even had its own little Beyblade league, until a kid nearly had his eye out with an illegal one someone has gotten on a holiday. Even today, with its latest iteration Beyblade X, I collect and play with the blades themselves, so when Slayblade was announced a while back and consequently passed to me, I absolutely had to give it a go.
Slayblade is, in its heart of hearts, a very silly but very endearing attempt to bring the old PS1 style of Beyblade game to the modern era, and I think it accomplishes this brilliantly. Its design as a roguelike was the perfect fit for it; every run is different, which means that every run means a different blade.
The gameplay loop is very simple; do battles with people around the small town you can skate around, trying to raise enough cash to enter the big tournament that happens throughout the week. This means that if you run outta cash, it’s a game over and back you go to the title screen. So how do we avoid this situation? We Beyblade– sorry, Slayblade of course.
The battle mechanics revolve around a physics based system, where the tip of your blade is led by your cursor, allowing you to really get some momentum and smash your opponents blade. Power-ups drop at set intervals around the arena and change depending on what kind of blade you’re using. In between battles, we can mow the lawn (with our Slayblade, naturally), visit the shop to buy new parts, and tinker with our builds.
While the whole system is fairly simple and very straightforward, there is something deceptively difficult and addictive about these battles. While I only completed the first couple of chapters, each one took me a few attempts to do. But I had a ton of fun collecting new parts and experimenting with different builds and techniques.
Slayblade will bring you back to that young era of your life collecting the blades and battling your friends, and considering the official Beyblade games are… mediocre at best, Slayblade will definitely fill that gap in your heart.
Slayblade is available for purchase on PC.