When Nintendo launched Metroid Dread in 2021, there was no doubt that it would inspire the fast-paced, grittier Metroidvanias that followed. MARS 2120 is one such title; a sci-fi game that tries to capture the same magic that made Dread so special, but ends up failing at almost every obstacle.
It starts strong, taking place on the surface of Mars where you are running away from an avalanche of rocks and rubble. It’s exciting stuff, but even during this opening sequence, something felt off about the controls turned off. You’re blessed with the ability to double jump right from the start, but executing it never feels natural enough considering how often you’ll need to use it throughout the game. It’s not bad, per se, but it seems too floaty for our taste.
Unfortunately, things get even worse when you start encountering enemies. They range from basic humanoid creatures to flying monsters, but none of them possess a true sense of menace. By default, you have two primary attack methods: a long-range energy gun and a basic melee combo. Aiming the gun requires the use of a proper analog stick — something akin to Nier Automata’s side-scrolling segments — but it’s so erratic and jittery that it makes targeting enemies an unnecessarily frustrating chore.
Back to the enemies themselves, these things just don’t know what to do half the time. Often they will just stand there like statues waiting for you to attack, while sometimes you just need to glance in their direction before they dive towards you. It’s maddeningly unpredictable, but not in a way that makes for a pleasant experience; instead of providing engaging combat encounters, enemies just feel like annoying obstacles.
Boss fights aren’t any better; these sequences often require you to simply load them with bullets to stagger them before laying into them with a few melee combos. He’ll have maybe two or three attacks to remember, but rarely did we feel like we were challenged in any meaningful way.
Kudos, the game looks pretty nice. It’s not stunning, and the obvious drop in resolution for the Switch can be jarring, but there’s genuine care put into the environment. The Ice Cave in particular, with its frozen walls glistening as you walk past, looks very beautiful. Unfortunately, the look is pretty simple compared to some of the more advanced Metroidvania on the market, yet the game is so vague about pointing you in the right direction that you’ll more end up getting lost at frequent intervals. A short cutscene can play as a sign that you’ve unlocked a door, but which one? Where is? We spent far too long wandering back and forth to locate our next objective, when a simple system of markers or waypoints would have alleviated that entirely.
We commend Mars 2120 for what it does well. It gets a few things right: the general aesthetic is spot on, the ambient music is pleasant, and some of the upgrades you’ll pick up along your journey are pretty cool. But the failure to reveal the core features that make up Metroidvania means we can’t recommend this one.
