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.