Super Time Force Ultra Review

I firmly believe that time travelling works with, and even improves, most of the things we like from movies and books to video games. There is something both awesome and uncertain about games that allow me to mess with time continuity that just pushes all of my buttons. Super Time Force Ultra is yet another example of this.

STFU (yeah, I know) is a pretty funny retro-style platformer action game in which players become part of a time travelling special force destined to save the world from evil forces along several historic eras ranging from the Prehistoric Age to the distant future.

Now, the thing about this title developed by Capybara Games is that the time travelling theme is everywhere. As I initiated my journey of heroism and badassitude I died, and actually pretty fast, which activated the Time Out instance. I was then able to rewind time until my hero was still alive and use another (or even himself) to save him from danger. Almost like cheating.

It sounds a bit simpler than it actually is. Time Out lets you rewrite the timeline of the level you are playing by adding another character to the fight. This is useful in a whole lot of ways: saving your previous lives adds them to your current character, giving them extra resistance to damage while adding an extra special attack effect (which depends on the hero you saved). In addition. the time travelling skills can be activated to add extra firepower during crowded scenes or boss fights.

STFU seems pretty easy, right? Wrong. Each level has to be finished in a determined amount of time which means you actually have to hurry up.  This is a pain, since your characters die pretty easily. Even though you can add time to the counter by collecting some items, effectiveness is quite necessary. In addition, Time Out can’t be used limitlessly and despite having a generous amount of “extra lives”, I had to use them strategically.

As I played the game I found myself creating a maze of repetitions of my own heroes that would frequently be far from useful. Other times, while trying to save a previous hero, I would hurry up and get myself killed in shameful ways. Nonetheless, the common result of time travelling is an amazing and chaotic mess of time-phantoms working together for the greater good.

I can’t stress how great this time travelling mechanic is. It adds an incredible depth to the game experience allowing for a multiplicity of decisions and even play styles, from the chaotic overlapping of actions such as mine, to a careful ballet of timely movements by a more careful and patient player. You can even finish the whole level and then use Time Out to go back and get all the collectibles while your previous selves do the heavy work.

In addition to the normal missions, Super Time Force Ultra has a series of puzzle challenges called HellaDeck levels in which players have to collect items using different characters and the Time Out skill. This extra content is a lot of fun and also helps  in getting players used to the time travelling mechanics as an extension to the tutorial section.

Finally, the game offers lots of collectibles and a variety of 19 unique unlockable characters (including the addition of L4D2 and Team Fortress 2 ones exclusive for the Ultra version on Steam) which really add up to the fun.

Super Time Force Ultra is a great gaming experience and should not be missed by action-platformer fans. Its funny script including ridiculous missions and time travel stereotypes combine perfectly with its innovative mechanics, assuring a great time.