Platform: Xbox Indie Games (Xbox 360)
Price: 80 MSP / $1 USD

Do the unlimited dungeons in this dual stick dungeon crawler = unlimited fun as well?

Gameplay:
While this is the first dual stick dungeon crawler I've ever played, I'm definitely not new to dungeon crawlers in general. The game offers what you'd expect from this genre by featuring randomly generated dungeons, plenty of lurking enemies, a limited view of the map that is gradually more visible as you begin to explore, and so much loot that you'll wish it wasn't a game after all. There is no story nor any quests your only objective, aside from staying alive, is to find the exit to dwell deeper into the never-ending dungeon. For your first adventure you'll have to start from the very first level of depth but will have the option of skipping to the later ones once you've made it that far. The game has a rather interesting menu to do this where you select things using your actual character rather than navigating through options traditionally. Aside from selecting the starting dungeon depth, you can also choose a different appearance for your character as well as turn auto-attack on/off along with the shop timer by hitting the option block with your character's sword. Another player can join-in as well by pressing the "A" button in that screen turning it into a split-screen cooperative dungeon crawling experience (this was only tested for functionality).

Most enemies along with your character are represented by a 2D block shaped sprite giving Mega Monster Mania a simple appearance which makes it resemble a retro top-down dungeon crawler rather than one of the more modern 3D dungeon crawlers that exist (Torchlight for instance). However, don't let this simplistic look mislead you into thinking the gameplay is weak since that's far from the truth. The game features fast-paced combat for the most part but you can "slow things down" a bit by taking a more tactical approach using long ranged weapons to kill the enemies that you slowly lure out. It's rather hard to take the less tactical approach though as rushing in will most likely result in an easy death due to an overwhelming amount of enemies coming towards you. Luckily, in the event of death the game puts you in a ghost-like state for about 10 seconds where you're able to freely move about without being harmed by enemies so that you can select a hopefully safe spot to respawn at. You will, however, be penalized by losing gold and/or a weapon/armor piece. Once you've used up your 3 lives which are reimbursed in the next depth, it's game over. The game has several items to help prevent this kind of death though, if used wisely that is. One of the most vital ones being the health potion which you can only carry a maximum of 20 at the a time, this limit also applies to every other item as well.

You'll be given 10 of these potions to start with every time you start a new adventure so use them with care, however, after reaching the exit and moving onto the next depth you'll be able to use the loot you've acquired to purchase some more via the shop if needed. Other items include garlic which will repel enemies, elemental immunity (heals poison etc.), haste which will boost your speed temporarily, and shrapnel bombs which come in handy for when you're surrounded. As for how looting works, if you've played a game like this before you should know already but for the newcomers: every enemy you defeat will drop some sort of loot such as coins, weapons, armor, and/or items. Items like potions and other power-ups can be used instantly whereas new weapons and armor will be inaccessible until you're in the shop. Once in the shop you'll have the option of either keeping, wielding, or selling the newly acquired weapons/armor pieces. There are only two weapon classes, swords and bows (there are several types of each though). As for armor, there are no helmets but you can wield a chest piece, gloves, rings, boots, and even a shield. Due to the simplistic graphical nature of the game you can't actually see the armor you're wielding though but the effects will still be there. You will be able to see your character using their weapon though and the elemental effect (fire sword etc.), if any, will be visible as well.

In terms of the difficulty of finding the exit, this will vary from dungeon to dungeon due to the randomization. At times I spawned relatively close to the exit whereas other times I had to do a lot of exploring to find it. If you find yourself becoming overwhelmed by enemies try using haste to avoid them as it will allow you to explore much quicker and hopefully find the exit sooner. However, keep in mind that by doing this you'll have more enemies trying to hunt you down so use with caution. It's also not necessary to kill any enemies, in theory you could keep going deeper and deeper into the depth by just locating the exit and moving onto the next one. However, in the later depths that's not too likely to occur so you'll need to fight and by defeating enemies you'll acquire strong weapons/armor which will help you stand a chance as in this game there is no leveling. I imagine this was done to keep the gameplay simple as when stat leveling is implemented it imposes requirements on weapons/armor and by avoiding this, the game is able to remain balanced without leveling as instead of striving to level your character, your focus is on acquiring strong weapons/armor. You can even store these weapons/armor pieces for your next adventure in the shop as they will remain there even if you die as long as they were stored, not wielded (with the exception of your strongest last wielded sword). So if you stored the 72 physical sword, it will be available to you next time you play. Items such as potions and cash are not stored though and are in fact lost so don't worry about them too much. Also, to elaborate a bit on the randomization, aside from different enemies and dungeon mazes, the scenery changes as well. At times you'll be in a frozen dungeon whereas other times you might see a greener meadow or a cave-like area amongst other things which helps keep the game's experience fresh.

I did have a complaint about the controls though, in order to switch items you had to use the LB button which was rather annoying when the action became intense. It seemed much more logical to allow the mapping of items to the ABXY buttons instead for quicker accessibility, at least as an alternate control option. Also, the enemy movements could often be exploited by leading the enemy into a corner where they could not attack you but you could attack them. However, that can be avoided if you lure them out of the corner yourself so it's not really a big issue and depending on your skill level, such "exploits" might even be necessary. Aside from that, the game seemed to live up to expectations.

Graphics & Audio:
The 2D graphics while simple, were polished and got the job done. The sound effects weren't anything extraordinary but once again, got their job done as well. The music was slightly better though as it was catchy and positively contributed to the dungeon's atmosphere.

Replay value:
The randomization offers fantastic replay value for fans of the genre and the generous weapon/armor storage system makes replaying the game less of a hassle. The cooperative play also boosts replay value by allowing you to explore dungeons again and again with a friend.

Overall:
For only 80 MSP, it's certainly a bargain for any dungeon crawler fan. The lack of a leveling system and classes might be a turn-off to some hardcore fans of the genre but despite that, Mega Monster Mania still manages to offer the core elements of the dungeon crawler genre and compensate for what it lacks with it's balanced weapon/armor system. The ghost-like death stance and life regeneration for every new dungeon depth will appeal to the more casual player but it's vast amount of enemies and infinite dungeons will challenge the hardcore player as well. I personally was only able to continuously survive for about 5 or 6 depths at a time before reaching the game over screen but still had a blast doing so. As for how long the fun remains for, during your first playthroughs you'll lose track of time fairly quickly but after a while the scenery/enemy changes start to wear a bit thin and at that point you'll probably only play a couple of depths and then switch to another game. However, you'll certainly get your money's worth and of course, your results will vary depending on how much you like games of this genre.

Pros:
+Great price
+Epic randomization
+Fantastic replay value
+Fun for both casual/hardcore players
+2 player co-op (split-screen only)
+Nice enemy variety and scenery

Cons:
-Controls could have used more customization such as the suggestion I made at the end of my gameplay segment
-While you can see your weapon's stat, you can't really see your total armor protection which was rather disappointing, it is possible to see each armor piece's individual stat in the store though
-Magic based attacks would have been nice but for only a $1, not really expected, the same goes with online play as the game certainly offered a lot for that price tag
-The combat does get a bit repetitive after a while however, this is an issue with almost every game of the genre especially if you're limited to only 2 weapon types but once again, keep the game's price tag in mind

Mega Monster Mania dwells a 8.5/10 in my review dungeon depth due to it's high replay value and co-op option. Even if the minor issues I mentioned are not addressed via an update, the game's still worth the asking price and is highly recommended to any dungeon crawler fan, with that said, give the trial a go at the very least as it's an accurate representation of what to expect.

This game was obtained from the developer rather than purchased, for review purposes.