When we had showtime heard that the Nintendo Switch would be getting a new No More Heroes game, my involvement was piqued, to say the least. Only even afterward getting our outset trailer, our beginning gameplay footage, and now having been able to finally play the offset entry in the serial in over eight years, 1 part e'er stood out quite a bit, to the point where I was questioning why no 1 else ever seemed to be talking well-nigh it. See, the plot for Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes involves Travis Touchdown and rival assassin Badman being transported into a mysterious, experimental game console and having to defeat the bosses from various games inside of it. And the name of this console? The Expiry Drive MK-Ii.

If that name sounds familiar, that'due south because the Death Drive 128 is the console used past Uncle Expiry in Suda'southward previous title, Permit It Dice, that immune people to play the titular game. That couldn't have but been a coincidence, correct? Was this a deliberate Easter egg, or something fifty-fifty greater? Well, along with colleague James Cunningham, we tried out the game's co-op mode so sat down for an interview with Suda 51 (which we will postal service in full later, don't worry), and it turns out that the answer leans towards the latter, as he confirmed. No More Heroes and Let It Die do indeed have place in the same universe, and these are tales involving the console'due south development across the years.

At present of class, ii games isn't exactly a whole "Sudaverse" at the moment, but Suda also mentioned developing other games involving the Death Bulldoze in the hereafter, somewhen giving us more than to work with. But any games nosotros go, it seems similar they would greatly work as standalone titles or as part of a sort of anthology, as Travis Strikes Again clearly shows. Later being told by Death (not fully confirmed as Uncle Decease nonetheless, though) to clear out the bugs in each of the games, nosotros prepare out in an old-school top-down action game, clearing out rooms of humanoid glitches every bit they came forth.

Despite the shift in perspective, the gameplay felt like classic No More Heroes, down to having to wag the Switch'due south controller around if your beam katana'south batteries run out. Clearing out hordes of enemies with slashes and special attacks however felt as smooth as butter, and the graphics were as stylish and colorful as always. Co-op play also felt quite fun, properly channeling the spirit of archetype arcade games likeNail TV, even if the camera didn't zoom out as much as needed during a couple of moments. Grasshopper Industry's trademark insanity besides shone through in the game'south sense of humour, with NPCs littered about gear up to tell you lot twisted versions of their grandpa'due south terminal words, and a sudden ramen stand appearing that lets Travis and Badman chow downwards for wellness.

If it sounds a bit bones, though, that's because not only was this office of the game's outset level, just it also represented the offset fictional game, Electric Thunder Tiger II, which is a more straightforward activity game. Every bit different genres are explored throughout the plot, the levels and bosses volition indeed get quirkier. But even then, the first dominate – the game's hero – notably broke the quaternary wall to remind us that this was a PAX East demo, and that fifty-fifty after defeating their starting time course and getting the second grade that wasn't shown at GDC (which involved a series of large death beams, distracting minions, and brittle satellite dishes, which was all still nicely challenging), they told usa that they couldn't testify more because they had to go on the line moving for everyone at the show (which didn't stop the guy in front end of us from staying late and eating upward the first ten minutes of our engagement, YOU KNOW WHO Yous ARE). It's unknown whether similar wall breakage will be in the final product, but it'due south a squeamish example of the game's twisted tone.

While Suda 51 is planning on an eventual No More Heroes iii and other games exploring the Decease Drive's incarnations (among other things), Travis Strikes Again still seems like a highly impressive side game from Grasshopper that expands the game's world even further and successfully shows how the franchise tin can however work in different means, all while staying faithful to Suda'due south trademark style. Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes is due out for the Switch later this yr, and dialogue from the demo suggests that more will be shown of it at Paris Games Week, so stay tuned for more data then.