I’m admittedly biased when it comes to Maximum Thunderness. Is it because it’s being developed by Berzerk Studio, who made some of my favorite Adobe Flash games when I was younger? Is it because of its hilariously over-the-top presentation, mimicking a Saturday morning cartoon taken to its logical extreme? Or is it because of Berzerk Studio’s established track record when it comes to commercial releases, having previously developed the impressive Castlevania tribute Infernax back in 2022? Either way, I can’t really hide it: I really like Maximum Thunderness.
One of their few self-published titles in recent years, Berzerk Studio released the game’s demo as a part of Steam Next Fest. As a longtime fan of their work, especially from their early days, I owed it to myself to check it out. Is it as fun and colorful as it looks? Absolutely. Is it going to be worth your time and money when it eventually comes out? I’d like to think so. How do I know this? Well, I gave the demo a shot. These are my thoughts on it.
Evil Aliens Are Up to No Good
From the initial reveal trailer alone, Maximum Thunderness is aping just about all of the high-octane, flashy entertainment that used to air on Saturday mornings. As one (or all three, if you’re playing in co-op) of the members of the titular superhero group, you’re tasked with taking on the alien forces of S.K.U.L.L. as they begin their dastardly plot to take over the Earth. First, they distributed cigarettes to kids. And now they’re riding around on skateboards without the right safety equipment. Who knows what they’ll do next?
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Instead of leaning on retro throwback visuals, like in Infernax, Berzerk Studio has instead brought back their bread and butter of gorgeous 2D animation and hand-drawn sprites. And it certainly shows. The game itself is gorgeous to look at, evoking memories of Homerun in Berzerk Land with all the bells and whistles of a full indie game. Bold colors, thick outlines, cartoony proportions on both the main cast and bestiary alike, it’s all really fun to see. The same goes for the music. The main theme wouldn’t sound out of place in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and the compositions in-game evoke a similarly wild, hype-driven energy that really sells the action.
The game itself is a roguelike, meaning that no single playthrough will ever be identical to any other one that comes before or after. You’re tasked with navigating a sprawling map dotted with several unique locales, with most demanding that you take to the streets in order to gun down the forces of S.K.U.L.L. in exchange for cash and skill points. You can use cash on restaurants or other shops for healing items or additional upgrades, and you can use skill points to pick one of three direct upgrades to your abilities after every combat encounter. The map has branching paths, meaning you have some minor agency in determining where you’ll go next. Do you want to skip a potential restaurant visit in exchange for more cash and skill point opportunities? Do you want to forego a difficult fight despite missing out on the potential rewards for it? It’s up to you.
You also have some agency in how you play. You have three characters to play as in the full game, two in the demo, and one available from the word go — that character being Krash Nitro. Armed with two short-range blasters, a focus on fire damage, and a jetpack that allows you to float over projectiles and obstacles alike, Krash lets you experiment with just about everything Maximum Thunderness has to offer. This is especially true when you finally hit the streets for the first time.
Maximum Thunderness‘ meat and potatoes lie within side-scrolling shooter gameplay, not dissimilar to something like Contra or NAM-1975. You’ll run from left to right as the world autoscrolls with you, bringing enemies onto the screen for you to shoot down and weave around. A fun addition to the formula fans of the Gears of War franchise will likely recognize is the incorporation of an “active reload” system tied to reloading your blasters. If you time your reload just right, you’ll deal some extra damage with all the new rounds you’ve inserted into your weapon. This is also where skill points really come into play.
Whether your jetpack has less fuel in exchange for a higher magazine capacity for your blasters, or you deal even more damage after a successful active reload, or even if you have a special firebomb attack tied to your jetpack, the randomized build you assemble during your adventure will mean the difference between life and death as the forces of S.K.U.L.L. gradually become more deadly. They’ll gain armor, they’ll get bigger and more complicated to deal with, and at the end of the map, you’ll even have to face off against a damage sponge boss that’ll only become more difficult as the fight goes on.
That’s about the long and short of it. At least, in terms of the demo. You’ll get the gist of what to expect in the full game as soon as you clear most of the map. After that, your enjoyment will mostly come down to experimentation and seeing how wild you can eventually make your build.
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Should You Play Maximum Thunderness?
I’d say yes, but with a caveat. Maximum Thunderness is pretty fun for a solo run or two, but it’s more than blatant that the game was designed with co-op in mind. Three playable characters, somewhat empty encounters without the presence of other players, and a fairly modest escalation in challenge do bring the game down just a bit if you’re taking it on alone. That said, you’ll be able to find other people to play with fairly easily due to its online functionality.
I’m optimistic to see where Maximum Thunderness is heading. I love its presentation, its gameplay is promising, and again, I’m heavily biased towards Berzerk Studio. I’ll be keeping an eye out on Maximum Thunderness as it creeps closer and closer to its eventual release date. Until then, I’m happy to say that I like what I’ve seen so far.
You can check out the demo for Maximum Thunderness (for a limited time) on Steam.
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