Polyroll is a 2D Platform Game inspired by the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed by Spicy Gyro Games and Shiny Dolphin Games LLC and published by HOF Studios.
The game puts the player in the shoes of the titular red-and-blue pill bug hero as he goes on an adventure to save his friends from the evil Kaiser Kiwi. Polyroll can roll into a ball to attack enemies and make it through levels, while also collecting a number of power-ups that give him different abilities.
The game was released in 2019 and is available for the Nintendo Switch, on Steam (you can find it here
) and on itch.io. Its official website can be found here.
Polyroll contains examples of:
- Alliterative Name: The main villain is named Kaiser Kiwi.
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: In a sense. Your reward for beating the game is unlocking different colored Polyrolls to play as. Justified because these are Polyroll's friends that you rescued in Dark Dungeon.
- Artificial Limbs: Kaiser Kiwi wears robotic wings to fly. Justified because kiwis are flightless birds.
- Battle in the Rain: The final battle between Polyroll and Kaiser Kiwi takes place during a rainstorm on top of Kiwi Kastle.
- Breakable Power-Up: The glide feathers, the bombs, the spike barrier and the magnet all function as a shield that absorbs one hit of damage.
- Brutal Bonus Level: The Heart Palaces task the player with clearing a Platform Hell course under a harsh time limit to earn an extra hit point.
- Casino Park: The Dice Palace world has a casino aesthetic, with levels built out of giant dice blocks, robotic shark enemies that attack by shooting cards, and giant poker chips that the player can use as platforms.
- Continuing is Painful: Most of the levels have no checkpoints and dying resets health back to one.
- Creepy High-Pitched Voice: The game's villain, Kaiser Kiwi, has a high-pitched squawk for a voice, fitting for a smallish bird like him.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: To both roll and Spin Dash, or "Rocket Roll" as it is called here, a second action button is used — unlike how Sonic games require the player to hold down while moving to roll.
- Feathered Fiend: As his name implies, the game's villain, Kaiser Kiwi, is a kiwi bird. This may seem like an unusual bird choice for a villain, but for a small bug like Polyroll, a kiwi can be a serious threat.
- Gotta Catch Them All: Each level has 3 Gold Gems hidden in it, with the game having 96 in total. It isn't necessary to collect them all unless the player is going for 100% Completion, but some parts of the world map will only open up once a certain amount has been collected, making it necessary to collect some of them to finish the game. Every Gold Gem only needs to be collected once without needing to actually finish the level for it to count, however, which makes it easier to go back and pick up any that were missed.
- Hailfire Peaks: Frozen Desert is, as its name implies, a desert covered with ice, combining Shifting Sand Land and Slippy-Slidey Ice World.
- Heart Container: Completing each of the three Heart Palace levels grants the player a heart container which increases Polyroll's total hitpoints by one, bringing them to a maximum of six.
- Hearts Are Health: Polyroll's hitpoints are represented by hearts. He starts out with three and the player can gain three more by completing the various Heart Palace levels in the world map. Taking damage will deplete one heart at a time, while collecting 10 gems will restore one.
- Humongous Mecha: For the final boss, Kaiser Kiwi pilots a giant robot modeled after himself.
- King Mook:
- The Big Bad and Final Boss, Kaiser Kiwi, is a more powerful version of the purple bird enemies.
- The first boss is also a giant version of the purple birds.
- The totem pole boss in Parcheesi Temple has the unusual distinction of being a King Mook for four different enemies:
- The yellow head is based on the oil-lamp-like enemies that shoot flames.
- The red head is based on the box-throwing robot enemies.
- The purple head is based on the bird enemies.
- The green head is based on the singing snake enemies.
- Mechanical Insects: The boss of the Digital Mind world is a giant mechanical spider. During its first form, it can only be damaged by standing on three different floppy disks to weigh them down until they are inserted into the corresponding drives, all while dodging laser attacks. Each floppy disk activates the circuit of the spider's web once to electrocute it.
- Metropolis Level: Polyrolyopolis is a metropolis-themed world, with numerous skyscrapers visible in the background and traffic light platforms that move or stand still depending on whether they're lit green, yellow, or red. Even the boss of the world is a giant traffic light that attacks Polyroll by controlling the cars in the stage.
- Mirror Boss: Downplayed. In the first battle against Kaiser Kiwi, he shares his Rolling Attack and ability to bounce off walls with Polyroll, but the similarities end there. Unlike Kiwi, Polyroll certainly doesn't have the ability to fly, summon minions, or slowly open a large lava pit. Averted in the final boss, where Kiwi fights Polyroll using a Humongous Mecha with all new attacks.
- Palette Swap: Finishing the game allows the player to swap between different colored Polyrolls at his house.
- Prepare to Die: Just before you fight him the first time, Kaiser Kiwi threatens you by saying "The end is near, Polyroll!"
- Primary-Color Champion: Polyroll, the hero, has a red body with a blue shell.
- Recycled Soundtrack: The Wadget Island theme was originally the Bonus Stage theme from the developers' earlier game Clash Force.
- Rolling Attack: Polyroll can roll himself into a ball to attack enemies, bounce off walls, and break through some kinds of obstacles.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: Kaiser Kiwi, the Big Bad, has a green body, a purple head and wings, and an orange beak and talons.
- Songs in the Key of Panic: The music for the Heart Palaces, which are Timed Missions, speeds up as it goes along.
- Suddenly Voiced: There is little to no dialogue throughout most of the game, except for one voice line by Kaiser Kiwi just before the first fight against him:Kaiser Kiwi: The end is near, Polyroll!
- Timed Mission: You have one minute to complete each of the Heart Palace levels. As if they weren't Brutal Bonus Levels enough already.
- Toy Time: Quite a few of the game's worlds are themed after games/toys, including Parcheesi Temple, Marble Museum, and Dice Palace.
- Uncertain Doom: Kaiser Kiwi is last seen panicking as his giant mecha starts exploding and falling. In the final cutscene, we see the shattered head of his mecha lying on the ground, but Kiwi himself is nowhere to be seen.
- Visual Pun:
- The first boss is a giant brain with a bird's beak and wings. Birdbrain.
- One of the enemies in the computer-themed Digital Mind world is a ram with a RAM stick for a body.
- One of the enemies in the casino-themed Dice Palace world is a robot shark that shoots playing cards. Card shark.
- One of the enemies in the city-themed Rolypolyopolis world is a fast-moving pig on wheels. Road hog.
- Weakened by the Light: The boss of the Marble Museum world is a ghost that doesn't take damage from Polyroll's normal attacks. It can only by defeated by pushing it all the way to the sunlit area at the top of the room and forcing it to stay there for enough time, as the light will gradually damage it. If the boss is allowed to move out of the light, it heals any damage rather quickly.
- When Trees Attack: The boss of the Woodworks world is a giant, robotic tree. It keeps growing taller to get away from you while throwing spikeballs down at you.
