Super Sami Roll from Sonzai Games and X PLUS is a platformer that mixes 3D areas as well as some charming pixel art. Learn more in our Super Sami Roll review!

 

Super Sami Roll from Sonzai Games and X PLUS is a platformer that mixes 3D areas with pixel art models. You’ll go out on an adventure as the titular Sami to rescue your friend Vera, who has been captured by the evil Albert VII. The good news is that Sami can roll, grapple, and jump his way through each 3D location. You’ll explore the usual types of lands you’d expect from a 3D platformer: green fields, volcanoes, ice lands, deserts with pyramids, and more, as you try to beat each level as fast as possible.

 

You can take on this adventure with four difficulty settings. In the easiest one, most levels have checkpoints, and there is no time limit. For the normal difficulty setting, most levels have checkpoints. As for the advanced – and most challenging setting – there are no checkpoints on stages, which means you must complete each stage in one go! The good news is that you can change the difficulty setting again at any time after starting the game in case you feel that the game is too easy or too hard for you.

 

When checking out story cutscenes and the world map, the game will be presented with a charming 2D pixel art style. The gameplay segments will then show 3D models in the 3D stages. Sami can roll with the D-Pad or the left analog stick, jump with the B button, wall jump by hugging a wall after a jump, and then jump and move the camera around with the right analog stick. The Y button will be for using its tongue, which can be used to pull Sami towards something. When jumping, you can press the A button to do a stomp.

Depending on how fast you complete a level, you will be given a rank, so if you want to 100% the game, you’ll be searching for a way to complete each stage once while collecting everything, and then one more time to complete the level as fast as possible. As you play each stage, you’ll have to get to then of the level while taking your time to collect all of the coins that will be out in the open, or hidden inside, say, trees you need to bump into to knock them out. Each stage will also have a hidden fruit for you to find. Sometimes the fruit will be out in the open or on a side path, while other times, you might need to defeat an enemy to be rewarded with the fruit.

 

All of the coins and fruits you collect can be used at the store to purchase a variety of items. These include purchasing dyes to change your character’s skin color, accessories to customize its look – such as a mustache, a baseball cap, or headphones -, purchase tips on how to access special exits – marked by golden owls – that will lead you to secret areas, or perhaps you can buy a box of marbles to access a new mode! That box of marbles will allow you to take on a multiplayer game for up to four players, where each one will try to beat the others to reach the shiny sphere at the end of the stage before the other ones. Whoever reaches the wins threshold will be victorious!

Super Sami Roll is a fun platformer with a 3D presentation mixed with 2D cutscenes and a 2D overworld to explore. The challenge increases at a steady pace, even more so for the special secret levels you can unlock by finding the golden owls that lead to the extra stages. There’s lots of stuff for you to purchase with the coins you collect and the fruit you pick up along the way so that you can customize your character and unlock mini-games to play, all for a $14.99 price.

Disclaimer
This Super Sami Roll review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by X PLUS.