Garlic
You know it’s going to be a fun time when one of the first things I’m treated to upon starting Garlic is the self-titled protagonist donning an outfit strikingly similar to a Namekian and the most cliche shonen design I’ve ever seen. The game’s short yet direct storyline also tells a tale of fun times ahead, as Mr. Garlic trains to be the best warrior he can be.
However, like most stories, he falls in love with an alien baddie and now has to win her love by scaling a tower filled with dangerous traps and other nasty surprises. Once again, a quick thanks to longtime supporter Ratalaika Games for providing us with a Switch key for quite possibly one of the weirdest, most challenging, and yet oddly satisfying platformers I’ve ever played.
The game begins just as spontaneously as its opening presentation, as players control the diminutive Garlic and learn the rules and nature of the game. Garlic is a two-button platformer, with one button to jump and the other to dash. Similar to other Mega Man X-style titles, Garlic has access to a wall kick and can also slide down walls to line up for further jumps. Dashing at a wall clings to it and moving towards the opposite direction will cause Garlic to chain jumps so long as he lands on a solid surface.
This is reaching towards the more advanced tech that Garlic has to offer, as his success in dashing is determined by the POW meter on the upper left corner. An interesting decision by the developer, but this “POW” meter also doubles as a “health bar,” as Garlic can technically take up to two hits before he loses a life. Fortunately, the player will either spawn on the same screen that they lost a life in, or at the previous checkpoint with infinite lives. As is the nature of games like these, however, the player will need to use each and every single life to clear the game.
When Garlic takes damage, there’s a moment where he’s unable to use his POW meter, flashes in various colors, and “DANGER” appears above his head. The next hit will cause him to lose, but this is also a very disadvantageous situation as without POW, Garlic cannot dash. In even the early levels, dashing across pitfalls and disappearing platforms means the difference between reaching the checkpoint and losing seconds of progress. While “losing seconds” may seem like a small thing, in Garlic, seconds feel like minutes when it comes to conquering tight jumps with the landing space of a thin line.
Fortunately, this type of game was made for the Nintendo Switch, much like my coverage of Haiku, another platformer I covered on the Switch. The Switch Lite is usually the least recommended way to play Switch titles as playing docked is always preferred over playing handheld. With highly intense gameplay such as this, I found my eyes literally glued to the Lite’s screen as I scanned every pixel, trying my best to cheat my way through the tiniest space without getting squished to death.
The game is self-aware of its shenanigans as dialogue and cutscenes are few and far in between. However, when they do appear, the humor is on the level of No More Heroes. One of the level transitions involves Garlic walking “coolly to the tower” like Ryu in his Street Fighter 2 ending. However, the objective here is to avoid stepping on piles of poo and inexplicably lit cigarette butts. Kicking cans, however, are A-OK because they add to the “coolness” factor and your relationship status with said alien love interest.
The overall wackiness of Garlic reminds me of the older Wario Land titles, where “bad things” that happen to Garlic can be beneficial in the right circumstances. Getting lit on fire will make Garlic go faster than normal although he will be uncontrollable for the duration. The bonus speed may just be enough to clear certain areas that otherwise would be slow with simply walking and dashing.
Another affliction may be getting hit with a poison droplet that will cause his head to inflate. While the player will float to the top like a balloon until the status wears off, this may also be helpful in reaching places that otherwise wouldn’t be accessible. It’s the opposite of earning abilities in Bat Boy as defeating important enemies opened up possibilities to what the player could and couldn’t do.
In Garlic, it’s effectively a “reach the end of each section of the level until its grand finale” type of platformer and there is no right or wrong way to reach the end. The infinite lives and generous respawn points make this a “trial-and-error” game which is something I always welcome in a sea of roguelikes.
When everything flows together, Garlic begins to feel like other momentum-based games like Berserk Boy and others. Even upon death, the respawn points line up with various cycles, making specific revolving platforms a breeze so long as players pick up the pace. While Garlic may not be for everyone who prefers a calmer experience, those looking for a challenge should definitely pick this one up as another one to add to their digital Switch library.
Garlic is available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam.