Smelter Reviews
One of those rare titles that takes inspiration from the classics but manages to forge its own identity, Smelter is a breath of fresh air that uses its influences very wisely, assisted to excellence by generally pretty terrific level design with only a handful of lesser segments bringing things down just a tad. The proceedings feel confident, original and polished, with gorgeous graphics and an outstanding soundtrack that calls to mind the likes of Mega Man X4 for its action stages and evokes Yuzo Koshiro's majestic ActRaiser score for its side-scrolling levels.
With enjoyable sim gameplay, an engaging element combat system, and excellent boss fights, Smelter is a game with a lot of good pieces across 12-15 hours of play. Unfortunately, it never becomes more than the whole of its parts. The platforming level design feels a bit unremarkable, and the Trials ruin the pacing. Still, if you love ActRaiser or Mega Man X, there's enough to make Smelter worth recommending.
The side scrolling side of Smelter has a lot going for it. It has a welcome execution that doesn't demand much effort and doesn't bog you down with much, even if it is overly simplistic. The tower defense side of Smelter contradicts this simplicity, however. Bad control choices coupled with halfhearted explanations makes it a hard sell for the entire package. Smelter has something unique, but that's nowhere near enough to warrant your time.
This is a cool twist on the story of Adam and Eve. With great music, graphics and a great story Smelter combines the platforming and real time strategy genres with great success.
Smelter is easily recommended for those who like action games and 2D platform, but with the knowledge that you will have to live with independent moments of RTS and top-down shooter; which, in addition to being limited and uninteresting, may not appeal to you and can be an exhausting obstacle in the middle of your journey with Eve to rescue Adam.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Smelter dares to mix 2D action and real-time strategy in an interesting but slightly unbalanced adventure. The highlight is in the platform sections, which have creative and intense challenges - it is fun to control Eva, mainly because of her agility and diversity of skills. The real-time strategy segments turn out to be extremely limited, adding little to the overall experience. Furthermore, the setting captivates with visuals and music inspired by the 16-bit era, but Eva's story and participation is irrelevant. In the end, Smelter is an inventive experience that offers fun in its strengths.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Smelter scratched any itch I had to play a new and fulfilling platformer. Through its tight and responsive controls, challenging level design, and non-intrusive combat, this is a must-play title for any who desire a new experience in this genre. The strategy elements can either be a turn-off or further enhancement depending on the player, but I still think the game is worth playing with that risk in mind.
Smelter is a meticulously crafted genre hybrid that almost does everything right. The margin for error with its design is so slim that it might be some kind of gaming miracle. A challenging and captivating experience from start to finish, Smelter is an absolute must play. Here’s hoping this isn’t the last time we see this dichotomous duo.
Appropriately named, as it combines elements of multiple styles of gaming, Smelter is a game that defies a simple explanation...
Smelter is charming. It’s tough-as-nails. At times it’s even hilarious. Most of all, Smelter is just itself – a badass and unapologetic indie guaranteed to give you a good time.
If you want to platform one minute and build houses the next, then Smelter might just be the genre hybrid for you.
A satisfying combination of action platformer and strategy game. The former might be notably better here than the latter, but Smelter is a decently long game with great visuals and gameplay.
The RTS layer is limited and repetitive, but the platforming levels are well-designed and challenging.
Smelter's opening cutscene got me very pumped for what was to follow, but what did follow left me despondent. I'd been set up and felt ready for an awesome 16-bit experience that, thanks to its promised smelting of genres, would feel genuinely fresh. The game that followed wasn't fresh, it was past its sell by date and starting to smell like feet.
Smelter is a fun action packed game with plenty of depth to keep players engaged for a while. The combat system is intuitive and works a charm with the level design actually presenting a challenge rather than just being superficial. However I do wish the developers focused more on these parts of the game and minimise the real time strategy sections which felt like drawn out mini games. Saying that Smelter is a well devised indie game filled with witty dialogue and stellar action to match.
Strategy, Platformer - Smelter faithfully embodies the basic elements required by each genre, and its design that successfully coordinates the two different genres without dissonance stands out. This game is like a reference point for each genre, but it needs something more to show than that.
Review in Korean | Read full review
There are some small problems — overlong stages, tedious twin-stick segments, a late-game difficulty spike, and a couple of missed narrative opportunities — but overall this is an enjoyable homage to classics like ActRaiser and Mega Man X.
If you’re into side scrolling platformer and tower defense type of games, this is the one that combines them both. With a slight blend of real-time strategy within the tower defense phase, the game tries its best to naturally support these mixed genres to play nice with each other. That being said, the downside of multi-genre in a single game is that if you lack understanding in one of the mentioned genres, there will be some sections where it will forever stress you out. Other than dividing them into phases, if the different genres played in harmony for the entire run, it could have been a good experiment to invent its own genre. At least the separate segments are decently put together which makes it a great gaming experience. The Korean localization was top notch which helps in delivering the intentions of the story very well to the Korean gamers.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Smelter is a clever mashup of genres with a cute style and fun action. The jolt between action and strategy sections can take some getting used to, but it's worth sticking with until you get the hang of the rhythm.
Smelter is an impressive piece of ambition. The originality that comes with the pairing of 2-D action platforming and RTS is easily commended. The brilliance and execution of the action platforming stages is overwhelmingly impressive, so much so that they’re able to carry the game on their own. However, the flaws of the RTS segments of gameplay mar the experience, as does the overall disjointed feel of gameplay when transitioning from fast-paced action to the crawl that is the RTS. The weak story and shallow characters fail to help the effort, though the attempts at creating a history and having a plot twist or two are appreciated. Lastly, I will be impressed with Smelter’s visual aesthetics and soundtrack for a long time to come. The 20 USD price is fair for the near 15 hours of gameplay and I would only encourage the purchase further should that price ever drop. Despite its missteps, Smelter is still an easy recommendation for any fan looking for an energetic bit of challenging, yet fun, high-paced 2-D action platforming.