Aliens are invading – the planet’s only hope – the Chenso Club, a group of androids, each with a unique set of skills, and their leader, Blue, has chainsaws for arms (who doesn’t love chainsaw arms?)
Blue cuts a swathe through the pesky aliens in this retro-themed roguelike. She chains together attacks as she runs, jumps, dashes and slashes her way through five levels of chaotic platform-based brawling while recruiting new members to the Chenso Club.
Every member of the Chenso Club has unique abilities, and each feels distinct to play with. Whether Blue is air-dashing and slashing fools with her chainsaws, Carmine is creating shockwaves with her massive hammer, Alice is dragging aliens towards her with her hook shot, Plum is batting spells with her broom, or Molly is drowning foes with her water blaster, there is bound to be a playstyle to suit you.
Another nice twist is that your health is also used as currency in the game shops and can only be replenished by collecting the blood of defeated enemies. This creates a palpable sense of risk vs reward, as every purchase weakens you for a short time. Though if you spend too much in the shop at once, you will probably die.
However, Chenso Club’s roguelike elements act just as you would expect. Level layouts and power-ups are random, and you lose everything you have collected and are booted back to the beginning of the stage when you die. On the upside, no two playthroughs are the same, and there are plenty of opportunities to power up your character. However, the downside is that although you can restart from the begging of each new level you have unlocked, you have the best chance of beating the final boss if you restart the game from the beginning. Needless to say, it can be a bit frustrating.
The biggest issue is that Chenso Club can quickly become overwhelming as the difficulty ramps up, and the screen is flooded with flying enemies, projectiles and traps.
This is further compounded by the lacklustre controls that manage to feel both twitchy and floaty at the same time. In a genre mashup made up of several game types that demand precision, it’s a bit of a problem.
Thankfully, this is tempered somewhat by a range of permanent unlocks gained by spending coins. There are also several difficulty levels available, with the easiest giving you more than enough health to make it through to the end without too much hassle.
A few frustrating design decisions aside, if you are looking for a decent roguelike with some unique twists, great boss fights, and bright pixel art visuals, you might want to sign up to the Chenso Club.