Gotta Protectors

 3DS
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. Destructoid
    Oct 2, 2016
    90
    I absolutely fell in love with it. I love its simplicity, I love its music, and I love how well it accomplishes what it set out to do. This feels like a long-lost early NES title, right down to having to blow into a cartridge to start it up. With the map editor, I hope this becomes the type of game fans continue to support for years to come.
  2. Nintendo Life
    Sep 27, 2016
    90
    We'd absolutely recommend you go and download this game, it's infuriatingly addictive and you're sure to have a good time.
  3. CGMagazine
    Oct 25, 2016
    85
    Gotta Protectors is a frenetic and charming celebration of retro Japanese games that rises above its low-fidelity presentation to deliver one seriously addictive experience.
  5. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Sep 7, 2016
    80
    This is one of the most gleeful, confident, silly-but-deep games I've played in years. [Issue #23 – September/October 2016, p.23]
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. Treskatae
    Oct 29, 2016
    8
    It's a shame that Gotta Protectors is so easily overlooked, because it's stuffed with nostalgia pandering, charm, and enough self-deprecatingIt's a shame that Gotta Protectors is so easily overlooked, because it's stuffed with nostalgia pandering, charm, and enough self-deprecating and referential humor that it really deserves to be played.

    The basic gameplay is simple. Protect the princess in the middle of the castle by building and maintaining barriers, and defeat the oncoming enemy horde. The Princess is a unit that remains stationary, healing you and refilling your MP if you get close enough, but she can also be pushed out of harm's way. Barriers can be built and upgraded ranging from simple piles of sticks to steel walls, and can be repaired by using your basic attack. You can also level up your character by returning to the castle, which makes you into a more formidable fighter and gives you access to higher level skills.

    All of these things cost money though, which can be picked up from defeating the enemy or opening the chests around the map. There is a balancing act, however, because you can also upgrade your castle, princess, shop, and dojo with the gold so that they'll offer up better upgrades. If you spend it all in the fight, you'll have none left to prepare for the next map. Fruit can also be picked up during battle, which is the currency you use to actually purchase weapons and upgrade the skills of the various classes.

    Speaking of, there are several different classes ranging from your normal fighter to a ninja who wears nothing but a leotard and a mask and an "old guy" who's a tank type. Each of them has their quirks. The fighter's attacks are very strong, but he moves and attacks slow. The ninja's fast but his attacks aren't as powerful and he lacks defense. These are all elements that are very simple, but work together to create something that doesn't feel shallow. The simple gameplay and the short maps make it perfect for a portable console, and the humor in the writing is what keeps you going between the fight. It's a love letter and a satire of the NES era, and I really recommend giving it a chance.    … Full Review »
  2. Tilde_Gunderson
    Nov 12, 2017
    9
    Gotta Protectors is a top notch, retro-throwback (yet unusually unique) game that can probably be summed up as stage-based 8-bit Diablo.Gotta Protectors is a top notch, retro-throwback (yet unusually unique) game that can probably be summed up as stage-based 8-bit Diablo.

    Just to get this out of the way, I'd say this game is a solid 15 hours of absolute fun. Nearly every level's fun to play, and you'll want to complete all of them. That being said, I don't have any inclination to go back and replay the game again though, so take that for what you will.

    The basic objective is to clear each map of enemies while making sure your princess is kept alive. The maps are relatively different from one to another, ranging from wide open areas with choke-points, to long corridors, to mazes, to... well, there's not really too many re-occurring themes in terms of map design. They're all pretty different from one to another.

    You've got a basic attack, which is different from one class to another (EG: The Archer shots arrows while the Fighter has a melee area-of-effect attack), as well as a special attack. I used the Old Guy a lot, because his special attack was a ranged homing missile that added an absolutely necessary bit of utility to a unit who's somewhat slow and melee-based.

    There's this RPG element where you can upgrade your abilities (like regeneration, more damage, more armour, etc.) with dropped junk from enemies.

    There are 100 levels, and while the first few don't seem that hard, the difficulty ramps up pretty well. Around level 60, you'll start feeling the effects and have to start really thinking about your strategy.

    It's exceptionally satisfying to barrel through countless enemies, aim for and destroy their spawn point, and then make your way back to the princess to heal yourself and make sure she's not close to being attacked.

    One very unique element this game has that I haven't seen before is this importance of proximity to the princess: As you move further from her, your abilities get weaker, you move slower, and your basic attack gets downgraded. You have to either spend your earned gold on upgrading yourself so your abilities are just inertly better when they downgrade, or you move the princess with you as you're killing all the enemies. It introduces this very unique strategy dilemma that I haven't seen in any game.

    My one complaint is the writing and character design. Most of the characters are one-dimensional (EG: Archer is the smart, strategic, "tired of everyone's **** kind; the Mage loves food; the Old Guy is senile, etc.) and the humour is very self-referential. This was funny in the beginning, but I got tired of it pretty quickly.

    That being said, I know it's a kind of humour that some people love (particularly those who'd appreciate a game with a retro art-design). A good comparison would be any web-comics that revolve around video game logic or concepts. They tend to have this "look at how absurd the video game logic is when placed side-by-side with reality... let's do it anyway! (queue laugh track)"

    So if you like self-referential video game humour as well as mowing down countless goons, you'll probably love this game. If you think you'll get sick of the humour, give it a try anyway, because even when I got sick of it, the gameplay itself sold the rest of the game for me.    … Full Review »
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