Future Knight review – Much more than a cool aesthetic

Metal Slug meets Mario’s Cement Factory with a sprinkling of Bishi Bashi Special, Future Knight is a gloriously silly on-foot shooter. Set inside an old-school LCD game, only your hero and his benign-but-sentient tumour can free Tokyo from the grip of an evil pensioner.

Those are words I never imagined writing, but Future Knight absolutely revels in its absurdity. The city you roam is relatively mundane, but its monochrome inhabitants are anything but. As the titular character, you’ll blast away at Donkey Kong-esque construction workers, evil babies, giant walking poos and many others. And, while I’m not going to spoil any surprises, the bosses are pleasingly weird.

I’d call Future Knight a run-and-gun except for the fact that it often bars progression until all enemies on screen have been dispatched. Eliminate them all and you’re greeted by that beat ’em-up staple, the “GO!” arrow. It’s a little jarring at first, but it encourages you to engage with Future Knight’s stand-out mechanic, a ‘tumour’ you can separate from Future Knight’s body.

Why is Future Knight’s companion a tumour? It’s best not to think about it, in the same way you probably shouldn’t ponder the ethics of gunning your way through an (evil) kindergarten. But it’s a genius way of going beyond gunplay and giving you a second chance before you expire.

Lose all three energy bars, and the tumour, dubbed “Two More” is released from your body. Two More dies with a single hit (which is game over) but keep him out of danger for a few seconds and Future Knight will regenerate. You can also eject him to regenerate Future Knight’s energy, or sneak through small passages.

As the game progresses, it rewards you more and more for exploring this feature, even introducing foes whose shields can only be eliminated by launching your non-cancerous pal at them. It’s a risk-versus-reward system that is so satisfying when you master it, juggling it with Future Knight’s dodge roll and bizarre biting attack.

Another neat feature is Future Knight’s backgrounds. Occasionally it can be hard to tell which platforms can support you, but you’re also shown the outline of the foes you’ll face. Spot a bulldozer, for example, and you know at least one such enemy will spawn when you’re in range. And, as G.I. Joe drummed into a whole generation, knowing is half the battle.

Difficulty-wise, there’s a hard level for an extra challenge, but Future Knight’s normal mode is perfectly-pitched. What’s not perfect is the way that, with nine stages and three levels per stage, the final level of each can sometimes feel like a drag. I’d sooner Future Knight had two levels then a boss fight, Sonic the Hedgehog 2-style.

Throw in a stunning soundtrack, a secret boss and unlockable ‘bezels’ and you’ve got one heck of a game, with depth far beyond its retro aesthetic. Whether you were wowed by such LCD classics as Octopus and Snoopy Tennis or not, Future Knight is such a unique, captivating title that it deserves to be experienced.