Buttsliding Around Early Access: Action Henk
And his penguin brother, Action Wenk
We last checked up on action figure speedrun simulator Action Henk [official site] when the dearly departed Mr. Grayson gave it the Chatter Over treatment in July last year. It's continued development since, nearing a full release some time in the next couple of months. It caught my eye with the combo of speed-platforming and ludicrously caricatured style. Betsy may be the most terrifying character in video game history. Latest footage and some more in-depth thoughts below.
Here's their Halloween update trailer, which I link mostly for the audio-visual examples it provides:
It's just so colourful and musical. Every moment a hyped-up slightly-too-wide grin-fest. Everything about the game is custom built to enhance the feeling of speed and the need to go faster. Five tiers of time trial ghosts to chase after, firey trails following particularly impressive moves, highly competitive global leaderboards - every detail is about going as fast as possible. The Sonic comparisons are obvious, but important: it's the best the formula has been for many years, possibly ever. No enemies or pitfalls to get in the way, just pure speed and a choice of routes to experiment with.
The community elements are great too, with a level editor being added towards the end of last year and Steam workshop integration to distribute them. Here's the trailer for that:
I really can't get over the soundtrack. Here's composer Alex Wiklund's soundcloud (most recent track very much recommended) and the main theme itself. Grab the game on Steam Early Access if you're into it.