This seems to be one of those situations where I’ve walked into a new version of a game that existed in another form, and seems to have a community of die hard fans, but I’m left wondering why. I suppose its following does make sense since it was originally a free-to-play Flash game that people could get excited about some time ago when Flash games were still a thing. If you were able to play it with some buddies in a computer lab, yelling at each other and carrying on, I could see where you’d have some nostalgia for it. In the modern light of day though? I’m not seeing the appeal.

Essentially a side-scrolling platform shooter where you and your squad will work to take out your enemies, but with some other modes as well, it does feel like a simplified version of a variety of first-person shooters I played back in the day. You’ll choose your class, manage your loadout, and hit the ground running trying to kill much more than being killed. In order to keep you coming back there are plenty of new weapons, cosmetics, and other elements that you’ll be able to use to customize your build, making you a bit more effective and stylish as well in the process. If you’re unable to match up with anyone online there’s also a single-player campaign that will have you move from location to location matching up against CPU bots instead.

There are some problems though, to be sure. The first is that having played a ton of more traditional and roguelike shooters on the console, some of which have been side-scrolling as well, the shooting in this game feels super inaccurate. Certainly with some games there can be a learning curve, but perhaps to compensate for a bunch of people playing in what are honestly pretty compacted maps all shooting at each other, the accuracy may have been thrown out the window a bit to prevent never-ending one-shotting, and people being dead before they got a chance to even move from spawn. The problem is that it also makes it very aggravating when it feels like you’re right on top of someone, unloading on them, and they’re still standing and probably frustrated that you haven’t dropped yet either. The second problem, which is even more critical, is that an entire generation of indies in, I’d say my perspective on sustained availability of people to play with online is extremely unlikely. The world has changed radically since the days that this was popular (and free, mind you, not over twenty dollars like it is now), and honestly this just feels a bit bland in terms of play when you consider what else is out there, whether it’s all multiplayer or not.

To some degree I absolutely get it, as I have fond memories of playing the likes of Scorched Earth in my early college days, and then Team Fortress Classic and the original Counter-Strike later. Mix some intense rounds with some good friends, and back then there’s no doubt that good times could be had. The thing is, having gone back and played some of those same games more recently, they’re almost quaint now, either in terms of their overall simplicity or now-creaky mechanics. In the case of Strike Force Heroes, and being in only 2 dimensions, it sort of feels like a relic. Especially now with an eShop with literally thousands of options competing with it, this feels like it’s tackling a very steep climb, especially at the game’s pretty high price point. Considering that makes it at least as expensive as multiple titles that are competing for game of the year awards… this really doesn’t add up unless you and a couple of your friends have mad nostalgia for the original.