Guacamelee! is a Metroidvania action platforming video game created and published by DrinkBox Studios. It was first released in April 2013 for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. Later, the game was made available for Windows in August 2013 and for OS X and Linux in February 2014. An improved version called the Super Turbo Championship Edition was released in July 2014 for Wii U, Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. This version was later released for Nintendo Switch in October 2018. The game draws inspiration from traditional Mexican culture and folklore, such as alebrijes and Day of the Dead.

A sequel, Guacamelee! 2, which includes four-player cooperative gameplay, was released on August 21, 2018.

Gameplay

Guacamelee! is a mix of 2D action platformer and brawler games, with elements inspired by Metroidvania-style gameplay. Players control a character named Juan, a luchador, who explores a large, open world where the story unfolds in a non-linear way. To complete the main story goals, players must collect upgrades for Juan and defeat enemies. Coins earned from defeating enemies can be used to purchase new skills at shops, which also serve as places to save progress. The game allows two players to play together, with the second player controlling Tostada, the Guardian of the Mask.

As Juan progresses, he breaks open "Choozo statues," a feature inspired by the "Chozo statues" from the Metroid series, to unlock new abilities. Some abilities give Juan new fighting moves, with each move's color matching the color of obstacles in the world, meaning Juan must learn specific moves to reach certain areas. Other abilities help with movement, such as a double jump, a transformation into a chicken to move through narrow spaces, and the ability to travel between the world of the living and the world of the dead to access new areas and fight enemies in either world.

Plot

Just outside the small Mexican village of Pueblucho, Juan Aguacate is an agave farmer. On the Day of the Dead, he visits the town to meet his childhood friend and the daughter of the president, Lupita. An evil skeleton named Carlos Calaca attacks the village and takes Lupita from the president's mansion. Juan fights Calaca but is defeated and killed. He is sent to the land of the dead, another world where people who have died live. There, Juan meets a mysterious wrestler named Tostada. She gives him a magical mask that turns him into a powerful wrestler and returns him to the living world. The story follows Juan's journey to save Lupita and stop Calaca's plan to use her in a ritual that would join the living and dead worlds under his control.

During his fight with X'tabay, one of Calaca's followers, Juan is turned into a rooster. Another rooster with special powers changes him back to human form. After defeating X'tabay, she explains that Calaca was once a rodeo rider who broke his arm before an important competition. He sold his soul to the Devil to heal his arm in time for the event. After winning, the Devil claimed his soul, but X'tabay helped Calaca trick the Devil by transforming him into a rooster, allowing him to regain his strength.

Juan gains the power to fight Calaca's other followers. He follows Calaca to the altar where the ritual is happening and defeats him, but he arrives too late to save Lupita. In the normal ending, Juan returns to his village and lives peacefully until he reunites with Lupita in the afterlife, and the mask disappears. In the true ending, if the player completes all hidden challenges, Lupita is brought back to life by the mask's power, which breaks apart. Juan and Lupita return to the village together and get married.

Downloadable Content

The Costume Pack was released on June 3, 2013, and includes several new costumes and abilities. The Pollo Luchador costume helps restore health, but stamina regenerates more slowly. The skeleton costume provides unlimited stamina but does not allow players to collect health pickups, except at save points. The identity swap ability switches the costumes of Juan and Tostada, making attacks stronger and throws weaker. The DLC also includes six new trophies/achievements.

El Diablo's Domain was released on July 23, 2013, and includes seventeen challenge areas, three new character outfits, and seven new trophies/achievements. Players can earn bronze, silver, or gold medals for each challenge based on their performance. Gold medals require "nothing short of a flawless attempt." Each new outfit requires a specific number of medals to unlock and grants unique abilities when worn by Juan or Tostada. The outfits are: bronze medals unlock El Portero, which has strong throws but weak melee attacks; silver medals unlock Alberije, which deals heavy damage but also takes heavy damage; and gold medals unlock El Diablo, which increases stamina but reduces health, while attacks restore health.

All downloadable content was later included in both Guacamelee! Gold Edition and Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition.

Development

The idea for the Mexican theme was first suggested by the animator. A former editor at IGN named Colin Moriarty advised DrinkBox to include D-pad movement in the game's controls. He was thanked in the game's end credits for this contribution.

Release

The game was first released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in April 2013. It included cross-buy support, which allowed players to buy the game once and play on both devices. Additional missions and costumes were added as downloadable content (DLC). In August 2013, Guacamelee! Gold Edition was released on Steam. This version included the DLC and Steam Workshop support, which let players create and share their own character skins using Adobe Animate. Later, in February 2014, this version was also released for OS X and Linux. In July 2014, Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, Xbox 360, and Wii U. This version added new levels, bosses, and included previous DLC. The game was made free for PlayStation Plus members in May 2015.

The Switch version of the game was released on October 8, 2018. DrinkBox Studios planned to release the sequel, Guacamelee! 2, on Switch before the end of 2018.

In July 2015, DrinkBox Studios partnered with IndieBox, a subscription box company, to create a special, limited-edition physical version of Guacamelee!. This collector’s box included a flash drive with a DRM-free game file, the official soundtrack, an instruction manual, a Steam key, and custom collectibles. In August 2017, Vblank Entertainment released a limited retail version of Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition for PlayStation 4. Only 3,800 copies were made available.

Music

The game's soundtrack was created by Rom Di Prisco and Peter Chapman. It contains 30 original songs for the game, along with 4 bonus tracks that are mixes and remixes. The music is inspired by Mexican styles, using electronic beats, colorful synthesizer sounds, and influences from EDM. A vinyl record version of the soundtrack was released, featuring 20 tracks selected from the original digital version.

Reception

Guacamelee! was chosen as a nominee at Indiecade in August 2012. The game was also nominated for the 2013 Independent Games Festival for Excellence in Visual Art. IGN gave the game a score of 9.0, noting that its only weakness was the short length.

The Super Turbo Championship Edition of the game received more reviews when it was released in July 2014. Switch Player’s review described this version as "the best way to experience DrinkBox Studios’ best game," giving it a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Legacy

Juan and Tostada are characters that players can control in the Wii U game Runbow. Juan appears as a guest character in the game Indivisible. He is also a playable character in the fighting game Brawlout. He was included in the game Dead Cells.