PS4 Review: Space Gladiators

Ever dreamt of being a space potato?

You’ve been captured and sent to entertain aliens as a gladiator in a faraway planet called Tartarus. You will have to advance through randomly generated biomes with deadly traps and monsters blocking your path. Choose your opponents in the arenas, beat them for items and coins and you might be able to earn your freedom! Space Gladiators is a 2D hand-drawn roguelite platformer following a bunch of captives fighting their way out of a planet prison. Defeat hordes of aliens in the gladiatorial arenas and earn your freedom!

There are quite a few roguelite platformers these days, so it’s tough to make yours stand out from the crowd. Space Gladiators attempts this with hand-drawn visuals that while simple in its design, give off a nice charm and definitely makes the game memorable in its appearance. The tried-and-true formula of roguelite platformers is in full swing here with increasingly difficult enemies to face and plenty of deaths for you to endure.

You will get multiple paths to go to through each run and each will lead to different areas that are mapped out so you can plan accordingly. It’s always a combination of skill and good luck to succeed with these games and Space Gladiators is no different, plus you do get better perks the more you play as you would expect. The controls are simple, combat is tough as you would expect but the actual combat controls are easy to get to grips with.

The Verdict

All in all, Space Gladiators is a tough but fair roguelite platformer. Easy to pick up, but it will take some considerable effort to overcome the tough odds against you. I would definitely recommend if you are a fan of the genre.

Score: 7.5