Let's talk about how Supraland Six Inches Under turned out - a game that was conceived as an addition and test work for a new development team, but turned into something more.

Supraland Six Inches Under review

• Author : Anton Latoshkin
• Where Buy : Steam
• Release date : 01/14/2022
• Platform : PC

Initially, Supraland: Six Inches Under was conceived as a small standalone expansion of the original game, which was supposed to be a kind of test task for a new development team. Despite this, over time, the short DLC turned into something larger, not inferior in size to the original. This is not surprising, given the fact that the previous Crash expansion could also compete with the main game in terms of duration. The release of this DLC caused some controversy with the fans, as it was predominantly focused on puzzles, although it still looked amazing. Therefore, Six Inches Under decided to make it as close to the original as possible: the design, the gameplay, consisting of puzzle solving, exploration and a few battles, were preserved.

Instead of playing as the Red Prince again, in Supraland: Six Inches Under, players take on the role of the blue plumber. A great move to get into the first (of the huge number) references as soon as possible - to Mario. At the beginning of the game, the Red Prince is sent on a rocket (the one that constantly crashed in the Crash add-on) home, where not a single toy man has set foot. That's when the rake apocalypse comes when a person destroys their home and the city goes underground in a matter of minutes. As a result, all the toy men, the inhabitants of Krasnotown, end up in the caves.

They all soon reach a place called Clettown. This city is ruled by a certain Baron, the most honest and sympathetic person in this place, who cares about his citizens. Did you really believe? In Klettown we see a pronounced class ladder. The poor live on the lower level, the representatives of the upper echelon, including the Baron, on the upper level. To make it "easier" for the poor, the Baron set up a special system that sucks money through pipes directly from the chests of the townspeople. They pay for the opportunity to live in Clettown. Your goal is to get to the top floor and through it to get to the surface. Supraland: Six Inches Under is a fun, well-written story with lots of satire and great gags. Of which, according to the developers, as many as two are funny!

Structurally, Supraland: Six Inches Under is very similar to the original game. A short story campaign is combined with a huge amount of additional content. Therefore, in general, in size it is slightly inferior to the first part. The first time it took me about 8 hours to complete the story. If you know what to do, you can run the game in less than 2 hours (which we showed in the video on our YouTube channel). During these 8 hours, I managed to find about 35% of the chests and secrets of the game. I haven't even reached the 50% mark of overall progress. The story campaign looks structured: you need to gradually rise from the first floor of Clettown to the second, and from the second to the third. And there is already a stone's throw to the surface! Each of these floors is connected to additional locations.

There are several main areas that you can return to through the pipes in one of the rooms in Clettown. Each of these locations contains puzzles, multiple combat scenarios, and countless secrets. As you get new tools and equipment, you will be able to advance further in the story, get into previously inaccessible rooms, and solve previously incomprehensible riddles. Supraland: Six Inches Under is similar to Metroidvania, which makes it not so easy to complete. You will be happy to search the corners of each location to collect coins, find chests, and also take on non-standard puzzles without any irritation.

The only problem is Supraland: Six Inches Under isn't all that different from the original. It looks like another game that doesn't really have much that's new. However, the main game was excellent, so the new one is just as good. So this issue is minor. To be honest, I was not even against this approach, since this game still has new locations and puzzles. However, the combat has been improved, and there are much fewer battles now. From time to time you will have to fight off enemy waves, but there are relatively few battles in the game.

Instead of a sword and blaster, your main weapon is a pickaxe. Rather, different picks. Whether you can progress further in the story depends in part on which pickaxe the protagonist wields. The first one, which you buy in the game, will be able to break ordinary stone, while the improved versions will allow you to break iron and even diamond walls. In addition, the better your pickaxe, the more damage you can deal to opponents. Hitting normal enemies with pickaxes knocks them back some distance. You will then be able to throw a pickaxe, which is a must-have story upgrade. Instead of a blaster, there will be a portable Tesla gun that fires electric charges. With its help, you can stun most enemies, and even injure others. This is the same blaster, just not as powerful as the original.

The puzzles are just as interesting as the original. The required puzzles are not as difficult as in the first game, but if you want to collect all the items, the rest will be a bit of a headache. The game world in Supraland: Six Inches Under is full of mysteries and items to collect. Studying it is pure pleasure. There aren't many 2D games out there with a similar style (like the Metroid Prime series, for example). The developers got creative with the creation of secrets, and I often got emotional pleasure after I understood how it was necessary to activate certain abilities of the hero in order to get to the next chest or coin.

Verdict: 9/10

Supraland: Six Inches Under doesn't reinvent the wheel, but instead uses a proven, workable formula. If you liked the original and want something more, there is no reason not to buy. The story part ends rather spontaneously and quickly than I would like, but after the story, you can explore the numerous game locations to get acquainted with additional content, 3-4 times the campaign. This is another testament to how high-quality and interesting this franchise turned out to be. Anyone who loves puzzles and games like Metroid should definitely play Six Inches Under, the original and Crash expansion (if you haven't already). I have already hit my 100%, so I'm looking forward to how Supraland 2 will turn out.