Furi Demake – the Chain Review – an Impressive 2D Side-Scrolling Action Boss Battle Game!

It’s great when a retro-inspired release impresses from the very beginning. As a side scrolling action boss battle game, Furi Demake – The Chain does an impressive job of showcasing a clear plan for a title and delivering on that vision!

Premise of the Game in Relation to the Original

As of this writing, Furi Demake is a free title on Steam that, as the title indicates, is a demake of the first boss battle against The Chain. In the original game, the player character fights against the boss in a polygonal environment using a mix of sword attacks and shooting with dual-stick controls. Yet, what we have here is an approximation of one of these fights in side-scrolling 2D action game that keeps the sword and gun action of the original, but presents it in the style of a 1990’s release.

Easing the Player Into the Battle

To even attempt such an idea is pretty cool, but to do it well, that is a different story! As I’ve alluded to already, the way this demake is presented is quite impressive, with a strong consideration of effective game design principles. For example, this 8-bit version doesn’t assume that we’ve played the original. As is highlighted by the one-screen instruction manual on how to fight, with visual indicators of what each button does.

Some of the things you can do include swinging your sword, charging your attack for a heavy slash, jumping, double jumping, parrying, dashing, and firing your gun. The fact that these commands are all laid out in a clear and easy to understand manner demonstrates a well thought-out perspective on how to design a user experience. This helps ease the player into the game and made me feel like I had a fighting chance even when it was the first time I’d played it.

Control

Once I actually made it to the fight, which took less than a minute, I found the control to be really well done. I’ve already mentioned the different kinds of movements you can do, and they are all accomplished in a reasonable manner. If I ever failed to parry or attack the way I wanted, I could almost always trace it back to the location of my character in relation to the boss, or a poorly timed controller input on my part. As such, I was pleased by how the game was designed to handle such controls. It’s not overwhelming, and when the same button is used for two different actions, it still makes sense.

Excitement of the Fight

Fighting the boss was rather exciting and dramatic from early on. One reason for this is because he is often moving around the screen and attacking through different means he has at his disposal. These include shooting waves of bullets at the player, jumping up in the air and slamming back down with a giant slash, or charging you with his weapon. Changes in camera angles and atmospheric storytelling also help to keep things interesting. In the case of the former, the view is constantly zooming in and out as you and the boss get closer and further away from each other. While maybe distracting for some, I rather enjoyed it, and it made the game feel like I was playing an 8-bit Neo Geo fighting game. When the two main antagonists are close to each other, they are especially large and appropriately detailed. But even when they are on opposite ends of the screen, they still look good and their different designs are easily discernible. Since movement is done so often in the game, the zooming effects occur regularly and promote the use of dashing to help keep the fight in your favor. In regard to the environmental storytelling, one cool thing about Furi Demake is that it takes place during a dark, rainy time of day. Clouds are seen during the battle, along with flashes of lightning that temporarily blind the screen as the fight progresses. The fact that the game doesn’t take place during a sunny day helps heighten the drama of the fight and keeps things tense.

Multiple Lifebars and a Tug of War

Upon looking at the top of the screen, you’ll notice that both you and the boss have multiple life bars. Your character also has multiple hearts, each one representing a lifebar. Yet, the multiple life bars beg a question. Why are they there? Well, it’s because once you defeat the enemy’s first life bar, the battle stops for a moment as your foe changes masks, and his lifebar is replenished. This marks a change in phase for the fight, which may require a different strategy to continue the onslaught or to keep yourself from being killed. When one of you knocks the other’s lifebars down, it means the “round” is over. If the bad guy beats you and causes you to lose a heart, he gets all of his life back! Likewise, if you win the round, all of your lifebar is restored instead. What this means is that if you are low on life, you really need to play defensively so the boss doesn’t get his lifebar back! It gives the game a strong sense of tug of war. If you keep avoiding attacks or parrying effectively, you can keep your lifebar pretty high and continue the battle in your favor. On the other hand, if you’re doing poorly, you can be crushed to the ground with little hope of recovery.

Music and Sound Effects

The only thing that didn’t exactly grab me was the music for the fight. Not that it was bad, but it seemed like the volume level was a little lower than what I expected. Nor did I care for the actual composition that much. It just didn’t seem dramatic enough for me based on what was happening on screen. In regard to the volume level, I eventually adjusted the settings so that the music was louder in comparison to the sound effects, but I still didn’t care for it too much. The sound effects were fine though, thankfully. If I disliked both of them that would have been a real shame!

Overall

Despite my one misgiving, I still found Furi Demake – The Chain to be impressive in almost every way. Early on, after losing in my first attempt, I really just wanted to go back there and fight the boss again! The graphics, art design, and controls are all really high quality, and it took me about 50 minutes of play time to defeat the opponent in the game. That’s at the easiest difficulty and with a bad rank for the fight. If you like mid-1990’s action in your games with an 8-bit aesthetic, then this title is a great choice, assuming the game’s eventual price isn’t too high. As I shared at the beginning, I got it for free, but the developer has said that it will become a paid title soon.

Title: Furi Demake – The Chain
Genre: 2D Side-scrolling Action
Year Released: 2023
Developers: Sylph and The Game Bakers
Played On: Steam
Price Paid: Free

Remember, we can have different opinions about the games we play. If you like something more (or less) than I do, both of our perspectives are valid.