Snow Bros. 2 Special review

With efforts like Tiger-Heli, Truxton, Zero Wing, and Batsugun, Toaplan left behind a legacy of exceptional arcade shoot ‘em ups. But sandwiched between 1989’s Fire Shark and 1990’s Out Zone, the Tokyo-based developer debuted Snow Bros., an action platformer inspired by Taito’s Bubble Bobble.

The title tasked a pair of snowmen named Nick and Tom with tossing ice at enemies. Once rivals were completely covered in the cold stuff, opponents transformed into a giant snow boulder that could be thrown or ridden across the stage, tumbling over any adversaries in the process. While you could stalk individual enemies, score chasers strove to eliminate every onscreen opponent in one single, well-planned plunge. Another delight was seeing all the bonus items dropped by defeated enemies, which ranged from plates of curry, taiyaki, and even various kinds of cocktails.

Know Your Bros

While it might have seemed like the property would be permanently put on ice when Toaplan folded in 1994, Nick and Tom have been intermittently thawed. Beyond Syrmex Electronics’ Snow Brothers 3: Magical Adventure romhack, the sleet siblings entered the third dimension with last year’s Snow Bros. Wonderland. With the Switch and PC release of Snow Bros. 2 Special, the duo’s second mainline entry receives a largely advantageous revision. Luckily, the original Snow Bros. 2 is also included in the thirty-five-dollar package, allowing for easy comparison.

One of the more notable additions is a cast that builds on New Elves’ haunting quartet of demon-babies. Head into Special’s Arcade mode and you’ll be treated to a Super Smash Bros.-style portfolio of playables. It’s even got Western and Eastern portraits, with the latter revisiting the nightmarish ogre-kids. Pleasingly, the cast of unlockables, antagonists, and oddities all play differently. Richard, for instance, breathes out mini-cyclones that climb, rather than descent down the screen. While that ability offers a distinct advantage, poor Richard doesn’t earn bonus items when foes are carried off the top of the screen.

Smooth as Ice Visuals?

Snow Bros. 2 Special’s redrawn visuals boost the fidelity of the sprites and increase the fluidity of characters and enemies. But now there’s a certain inorganic quality to the animation, with every sequence of frames looking a bit too mechanical. If you can overlook this, physics and play remain mostly faithful to the original. Now there’s thirty new levels (bringing the total to eighty) and bosses that have two attack sequences now. The purist in me wishes that they made the latter optional.

Outside of Arcade Mode, Special offers variants like Survival and Time Attack modes, which test your ability to excel with a single life or with a race against the clock. Both don’t offer enough innovation to hold your attention for more than a play or two. Meanwhile, Sky Attack attempts to turn Snow Bros. into Doodle Jump, as you ascend a vertically-scrolling playfield with spikes on the bottom. Although this is the biggest alteration to formula, it feels like a free-to-play mobile game.

Melt With You?

Unmistakably, a solid amount of work went into this revitalization of Snow Bros. 2, making Special feel like a winter holiday for retro fans. But woefully, the vacation feels a bit overpriced after Wonderland delivered a respectable 3D remake for five dollars cheaper. For those with a trio of local bros, the title might be worth it. But soloists should let the price thaw.

Snow Bros. 2 Special was played on Switch with review code provided by the publisher.