The original Squidlit was released in 2018, and it’s safe to say that despite its honorable intentions to emulate the look, feel, and gameplay of a classic Game Boy game, it didn’t set the world on fire. It was charming, something I won’t ever disagree with, but it was painfully short and way too simplistic. At the very best, it felt like a shovelware title. That didn’t stop the developers at Squidlit Ink to come up with a successor to their love letter to retro gaming. The logical progression for the series was to make a game that emulated the look and feel of a Game Boy Color game instead, and that’s exactly what we got from Super Squidlit. We also got a slightly better game out of said premise, thankfully.

Despite being a canonical sequel to Squidlit, you don’t need to worry at all about the plot in Super Squidlit. In fact, despite the much funnier dialogue included in here, a vast step up from the first game, I can’t say I cared for the overarching story. I was just paying attention at the smaller bits of dialogue in each level, talking to characters and such, as a good chunk of the game revolves around sailing to different lands and solving nearby issues, such as helping out the owners of a sauna by unfreezing a nearby volcano. 

Super Squidlit takes advantage of the inclusion of an actual color palette to provide players with more varied levels and backgrounds. Whereas the first game felt drab and repetitive, each area in Super Squidlit feels different and vibrant. You’ll go from a tropical beach to an icy cave in an instant, and you’ll clearly notice the difference between areas. There’s an adorable color palette and slightly better animations than the ones featured in the original game, all while maintaining the same limitations imposed by the Game Boy Color. I loved the inclusion of a frame resembling the GBC in order to make the game feel even more authentic.

The soundtrack is a lot better than the one featured in the original Squidlit as well. Sure, it has a ton of forgettable tunes in here, but there are also a handful of pretty memorable earworms in this soundtrack. That was something I certainly wasn’t expecting from Super Squidlit after such a milquetoast predecessor: its overall presentation did NOT blow me away by any means, but the amount of care put into its visuals and soundtrack is much higher than in the original.

Super Squidlit‘s weakest link is still its gameplay, but that doesn’t mean it’s as bad as its predecessor. The issue with the entire screen shaking whenever you jump is still present in here, albeit to a less extreme degree. Your character moves a bit smoother and you have a few extra moves at your disposal. I like how you can gain an extra bit of height by literally rolling onto a wall and getting knocked back, allowing for you to reach higher platforms with ease. Combat-wise, you are still relying on pooping ink from above, but some enemies also require for you to knock them over with a rolling attack beforehand. It’s not a lot, but it’s better than the blandness featured in the first game.

My favorite aspect in Super Squidlit wasn’t even the platforming, or anything involving the main character; an octopus which is called a squid for some reason. Every now and then the game will throw a first-person shooting section at you, reminiscent of old-school Doom. It’s a bit clunky and janky, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t work. You shoot with A, change weapons with Select, and lock onto enemies with B, allowing you to actually strafe around them. Squidlit Ink managed to code a full-fledged Game Boy Color shooter and it works way better than it had any right to. Sure, the level design is ugly, and these sections run at a bad framerate, but I never thought I’d have so much fun with them as I ended up having.

Super Squidlit is still far from being an amazing title, but considering how bland its predecessor was, I have to commend the developers for coming up with a vastly improved title that shows they have listened to fan feedback, introducing more collectibles, improving its overall presentation, and creating an overall more fun experience, with a lot more replayability. I’m looking forward to seeing what the devs will come up with the more than inevitable Game Boy Advance take on the franchise.

 

Graphics: 7.0 The addition of an actual color palette makes Super Squidlit look way more appealing than the original Squidlit.	Gameplay: 6.5 Even if its collision detection and screen movement are still annoying like in its predecessor, Super Squidlit features more abilities and exploration segments to freshen things up a bit.
Sound: 7.0 A more cheerful collection of tunes than before, with some songs being actual earworms this time around.	Fun Factor: 7.0 A bit lengthier, a lot prettier, a bit funnier, and also more varied than its predecessor. Super Squidlit is still quite rough, but it’s quite enjoyable on the Switch.
Final Verdict: 7.0

Super Squidlit is available now on Switch.

Reviewed on Switch.

A copy of Super Squidlit was provided by the publisher.