Raskulls combines a lot of good ideas, mixing 2D platforming with racing and multiplayer combat. Controlling a comical, skull-themed character (and you can unlock several to choose from) players are tasked with smashing through obstacles, making quick jumps, and fighting enemies on the way to the finish line. With both online play and an engaging single-player campaign, Raskulls starts out as extremely fun and will entertain just about anyone; it’s only after a while that repetitive game mechanics will drag things down.
Single-player stages in Raskulls alternate between typical racing, ’survival racing’ where you’re trying to avoid being caught, and puzzles that take advantage of the game’s quirky physics. Almost all of these revolve around falling blocks that serve as both obstacles and possible assistance; they normally get in your way but creative use of your zapping wand can either remove them or reshape them into steps to help you get to even higher parts of the stage. This serves to either let you make progress or hinder your opponents in most races, yet becomes more interesting in the game’s puzzle levels. Careful zapping is required in these stages, where you’re often given objectives such as digging through blocks to reach the exit within a certain number of zaps or have to cut blocks away such that important items fall to the ground at a gentle speed.
Alternating between racing and puzzle stages keeps things fresh for a while, and Raskulls even offers optional ’challenge stage’ versions of both for those who want to try their hand at some very difficult levels. Multiplayer racing is also available, and it’s where Raskulls takes on something of a party game aspect; up to four players can race one another, zapping one another out of the way, setting up blocks to fall on each other, and using various Mario Kart-style items to plow through whole rows of obstacles at once. Strangely enough, multiplayer racing isn’t the main reason to play Raskulls. While it’s easy to learn, this is because it’s a very simple mode to play and it loses its charm quickly if played for very long. Instead, the single-player stages are the real draw since their variety will keep you interested for a while.
While Raskulls does successfully mix a lot of different game mechanics, it does so by taking the most basic aspects of them. It’s a 2D platformer, but one with very simple controls and physics (outside of the blocks, whose more complex behavior forms the core of most puzzle stages). It also has the usual random items and combat of Mario Kart, but this too is done at a basic level. Even the story is pretty simple despite its whimsical and cartoony style, serving mostly as a reason for your characters to continue going through more stages. This is Raskull’s greatest flaw, as all of its elements are very fun... at first. Then their lack of depth begins to increasingly sink in, and after several hours you’ll begin to lose interest. You will have had plenty of fun by then, but the eventual disappointment is very easy to notice and unfortunate when Raskulls had so much potential.
Nonetheless, Raskulls does more right than wrong and reasonably earns its $10 USD/800 Microsoft Point price. It’s a fun side-scrolling ’racing platformer’ that also has some great puzzle levels mixed in, with competent multi-player and the whole package shines very brightly at first, even if it does eventually fade to a dull glow. So long as you go in knowing the first half of the experience is the best, Raskulls is worth a try.
