Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit Review

The title is in fact more descriptive than it appears at first glance. Hell Yeah! actually takes place in Hell. The subtitle, Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, provides the rest of the story. You play as Ash, a skeletal rabbit who also happens to be Prince of Hell. Scandalous photos of him have been taken and posted all over the Hell-ternet. This over the top action platformer tells the story of his mission of revenge. He must get the photos back, killing a hundred various minibosses, as well as countless other creatures along the way.

A rabbit with no skin does not sound like it would be very dangerous. However Ash has a full arsenal of destructive weaponry at his disposal, ranging from a minigun to rocket launchers. All of that is not enough for the Prince of Hell though, as Ash moves around inside a giant circular saw blade which chews up insignificant enemies as he rolls past. The saw can also go through certain types of walls, and he can also charge it up for a dash attack which will break things quicker.

The platforming is not Hell Yeah!’s strong suit though. You are encouraged to plug in a controller rather than use a keyboard and mouse, but this is not enough to prevent the controls feeling a little loose and floaty. This can be explained away by considering the momentum of the rolling saw, but that should not be an excuse for frustrating gameplay. I often fell off a ledge to meet my doom on a spike when I wanted to stop before the edge, or jump over it. Holding down the jump button means you go higher, apart from in the few sections where your weapons, including the saw, are taken away from you. To go higher here you have to press the jump button twice, and this disconnect between the two situations is really jarring. We have been treated to excellent platforming in recent years by the likes of Super Meat Boy and Mark of the Ninja, and Hell Yeah! falls short of the quality of control found in those games.

Where Hell Yeah! does excel though, is in its tone and humor. If you take into consideration that a deceased rabbit rolling around Hell in a giant saw blade is not the most ridiculous thing in this game, then you will have some idea. A large percentage of the game’s one hundred minibosses are defeated in a really simple minigame, usually to do with timed button presses. Successfully complete one of these are you are treated to a gory cutscene of the boss’ death, loosely based on the minigame completed. For example, the minigame “Panzer Popcorn” has you keeping corn off the ground by moving a trampoline around. After a short time, a giant microwave materialises, cooking the boss, along with the corn, until it explodes. There is not a separate death activity for each boss, which is a shame, but there are enough to keep things varied. It is only towards the end of the game where you start wishing for a few new different ones. After you have killed a boss, you unlock an amusing part of their backstory, usually detailing what they did in life to get consigned to Hell.

To accompany the humor, it has a great distinctive art style. Much like everything else the graphics are exaggerated, with really bright colors and over the top gore. Each boss explodes over the screen when defeated, and the minor enemies also have good death animations. The sounds made when squishy things get squelched under your saw blade are sickening, and the soundtrack itself is equal parts crazy and uplifting. In some areas like Hell’s club you are treated to a driving techno beat, while in the “Cute” area, where everything is rainbows and happy (yes, this is a section of Hell), the song is a J-pop style love song with Ash as the subject. There is not much spoken dialogue in the game, the story is mostly delivered through text boxes, although there is a fantastic announcer at the beginning of each boss minigame who demands that you “Squeeze it!”, or whatever the theme of that game is.

As you progress through the game you collect gems and other collectibles which you can use in one of the shops scattered around Hell. You can buy health power ups, new weapons, or upgrade for existing weapons. You can also find blood fountains around the world which replenish your health, and in the Casino area of the underworld there are slot machines where you can gamble away your money.

Each area contains a number of bosses which you have to defeat before the next door unlocks and you can progress. I found the pacing of the door unlocks to be superb, with each one either providing me a good place to take a break for a while, or serving to drive me on to the next area. At the end of each zone there is a more substantial multi stage boss battle which requires you to employ slightly different tactics to normal. I never felt too bogged down in one area for a too long, and the occasional switch of game mechanics kept things fresh. Occasionally you will jump into a spaceship or a submarine and kill some bosses that way, and they tend to last just the right length of time before you get bored and want to get back to more platforming. There is a slight difficulty curve, as the minor enemies become more dangerous towards the end. I found the only real challenge to be the final boss battle, which only took me a few tries to complete. Hell Yeah! is not a particularly hard game, and usually difficulties arise from having to overcome the inaccurate platforming, rather than a superior enemy.

It is frustrating in places, but I found myself drawn back into the world of Hell whenever I came back to my computer. It took me around six hours to complete, which I felt was a decent length, and it certainly never outstayed its welcome. The platforming lacks quality, but Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit makes up for it in its art style and humor.