Antonblast is an out-of-control platformer with its heart in the ’90s
Antonblast is kind of like playing a zany Saturday morning cartoon. It’s brash, maximalist, and often, you’ll feel like you don’t actually understand what’s happening. Somehow, that chaos gels into something that actually makes sense — and, at times, is even calming.
Antonblast just launched in 2024, but it looks like a long-lost side-scrolling platformer from the 16-bit era of the SNES or Sega Genesis. That’s not just due to the fantastic pixel art. There are fun touches like delightfully ’90s-era character designs and Mode 7-like effects, such as your character splatting against the screen when you die, that really make it feel like a missing classic of the era.
Summitsphere, Antonblast’s developer, describes the game as a “fast-paced explosive action platformer,” and that’s a good way to summarize how it actually feels to play. It’s sort of what would happen if you put Wario, Sonic, Donkey Kong Country, Crash Bandicoot, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and Rocko’s Modern Life into a blender.
As Anton or Annie, you’ll charge through various enemies and obstacles in your path, sometimes turning into a literal tornado of...