If you need a refreshingly unique indie on Switch, Super Chariot is just what you’re looking for. Play as a fearless princess, her faithful fiancé, or a festive skeleton while you search for a suitable sepulcher for your king’s remains. Released for Wii U a few years back as Chariot, Super Chariot is a re-release that comes with the Royal Gadget Pack DLC, adding new items and the skeleton as a playable character.
You begin by (gently) dragging your king’s wheeled coffin (“chariot”) to a seemingly perfect final resting place—but suddenly, his ghost appears, scolding you for choosing an area shrouded in darkness. Refusing to be buried there, your king tells you to find a more suitable location, and you embark on a long and winding journey through the royal catacombs. Along the way, you collect gold for your king’s burial—and protect that gold from greedy looters!
What really sets Super Chariot apart from other indies is its chariot mechanic. To protect the king’s remains and guide them to a sepulcher, you need to keep his chariot with you at all times. You hold it with a rope, which can be tightened and loosened at will. Drag the chariot across the ground with the rope, or hop on top of the chariot to ride it down a slope. As you progress, you’ll discover plenty of platforming mechanics that shake things up. These mechanics are introduced at a perfectly steady pace, and the game teaches you how to navigate those mechanics with helpful instruction graphics.
The king’s chariot also functions as a portable platform, which helps you jump to higher ground. This isn’t always practical in single-player mode, but in co-op, it offers many possibilities. For example, in co-op mode, one player can dangle the chariot over a cliff, creating a vertical platform for the second player that can even swing back and forth if needed. And on top of this, P2 can always grab onto the chariot, hoping p1 will tolerate this and pull them up to safety.
Since you can both hold a rope and stretch the chariot between yourselves, the chariot mechanic is even more fun with a friend. But playing in co-op mode can also present quite a challenge. For one thing, both parties have to keep up with the chariot, so you’ll have to achieve twice the difficult maneuvering if you’re scaling a tricky section of a level. And both players also have to stay in constant communication—verbal or otherwise—if they want to get very far with the chariot unscathed!
You can’t get hurt in Super Chariot, but the king’s remains are vulnerable to looters quick to steal gold from his coffin at every chance they get. So fight like your life depends on it when enemies appear, and be sure to keep track of the chariot while you’re at it! Weapons include a short sword for the princess, slingshot-like shots for her lover, and throwing-star-esque bones for the skeleton. Try playing as each character to discover what works best for you!
So we’ve established that Super Chariot is super-unique, but it’s also super-fun, whether you play alone or with a friend. This game’s unique mechanics, adorable storyline, and stunning graphics make for a top-notch indie experience, and the graphics might even be the best part. Super Chariot’s charming visual environments range from sunlit passageways to waterfall-lined cliffs to neon-rainbow underworlds. Each unique environment is carefully crafted with rich colors, sharp images, and charming touches, like foliage that blooms when you walk by.
So there you have it: Super Chariot is a perfectly crafted game, and we think you could only really dislike this one if you don’t like its story or chariot mechanic. But the story is truly adorable, and the chariot mechanic just takes a little getting used to. And for the reasonable price of $19.99, it’s absolutely a Nintendeal. If you think you might like helping a king find a perfect sepulcher for his remains while helping him collect gold for his tomb and enduring his silly insults, we think Super Chariot is the perfect game for you.
Platform – Nintendo Switch eShop Download
Publisher – Microïds
Developer – Microïds
Price – $19.99
Genre – Platformer, Adventure, Action
Size –467MB
Nick and Sarah are the ultimate gaming couple. Nick is a Super Mario Maker 2 enthusiast, but working with Nintendeal has fostered a love for tough-as-nails indies such as Enter the Gungeon, Celeste, and Cuphead. Sarah prefers sim games like Animal Crossing, Don’t Starve, and Stardew Valley, but she challenges herself by grinding Slay the Spire from time to time.