''Super Time Force'' is a

side-scrolling A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller) is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling grap ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

and

shooter Shooter may refer to: People * Rod Beck (1968–2007), American baseball pitcher nicknamed "Shooter" * Shooter Jennings (born 1979), country music singer * Evan McPherson (born 1999), American football placekicker nicknamed "Shooter" * Adrian Sh ...

video game by

Capybara Games Capybara Games is an independent game studio based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The studio was founded in 2003 from a collection of Toronto IGDA members. The company is most known for developing 2011's '' Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP'' and ...

. The game was released for the

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

and the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

on May 14, 2014. The game was known for its ability for players to rewind themselves, using the "Time Out" game mechanic, back to an area where they started from when a character dies, and then resume their action alongside a ghost version of the original character. Its game mechanics and gameplay were inspired by other side-scrolling titles like ''

Contra Contra may refer to: Places * Contra, Virginia * Contra Costa Canal, an aqueduct in the U.S. state of California * Contra Costa County, California * Tenero-Contra, a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerla ...

'' and ''

Metal Slug is a Japanese multimedia franchise and run and gun video game series originally created by Nazca Corporation before merging with SNK in 1996 after the completion of the first game in the series. Spin-off games include a third-person shoo ...

'' with the abilities of time-travel. The game was later released in an updated version entitled ''Super Time Force Ultra'' on the Xbox platforms, and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

through

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

and

GOG.com GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt, based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through i ...

on August 25, 2014, and on

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

and

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, then in other international territories on February 22, 2012, and was produced ...

on September 1, 2015. Since its release, the game has received critical acclaim and awards for its humorous storytelling, gameplay, and original game mechanics.

Gameplay

Players have 30 lives to run through

bullet hell , also known as manic shooter, is a subgenre of shoot 'em up video games with large amounts of projectiles the player is required to dodge. Introduced in 1993 with '' Batsugun'' and initially limited to vertically scrolling shooters, bullet ...

levels. When the player dies or voluntarily ends the run, the player can view and rewind their timestream to revisit the life of a prior

player-character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

's run or otherwise restart with a new run. There are over 16 different characters in each of the 6 stages with different weapons or powers of their own. In addition, the player can also use items like ' (clock items that reverse the time limit), shards (violet dust-like pixels that allow the player and the game's time limit to pass in slow motion; they are only visible if the player uses the "Time Out" mechanic) and ' (yellow diamond-shaped items that increase the player's number of lives by one, and are found on every level on certain areas or in enemies that are difficult to capture). Both shards and can be collected to unlock a new character when a certain number are obtained.

Plot

Commander Repeatski sends the Super Time Force, a

time-traveling Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

military organization, to various points in history such as

prehistoric times Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

, the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, and the

future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ex ...

in order to make the present a better place to live.

Development

The game stems from a three-day experiment at the Toronto, Ontario Game Jam in May 2011. The

game jam A game jam is an event where participants try to make a video game from scratch. Depending on the format, participants might work independently, or in teams. The event duration usually ranges from 24 to 72 hours. Participants are generally program ...

event coalesced hundreds of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

-area game developers to build quick prototypes around a central theme: the phrase "what just happened." Kenneth Yeung of Capybara and artists Mike and Vic Nguyen brainstormed as a three-person team and decided to make a time-traveling

side-scrolling shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character m ...

, "a ''

'' game where you can go back in time." This quickly became the core feature, where upon death, the player fought "alongside ghost versions of themselves doing what they had just done before they died." Dying created co-op partners of the player's recorded actions. Yeung described it as, "''

Gunstar Heroes ''Gunstar Heroes'' is a 1993 run and gun video game developed by Treasure and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. It was Treasure's first developed video game. The game's premise is centered around a pair of characters, the Gunstars, in ...

'' meets that one level in ''

Braid A braid (also referred to as a plait; ) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing three or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strand ...

''."

At first the team was hesitant and noncommittal about continuing the experiment, but later decided to proceed as a Friday

side project In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style. Usually these projects emphasize ...

. They added Greg Georgiadis as a designer and Jason DeGroot as a musician, and decided after 20 days of work to pursue the project seriously. Capybara released a gameplay teaser trailer on October 17, 2011 without explaining the footage. Around the same time, Microsoft awarded the game the 2012

Independent Games Festival The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...

XBLA Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers. Titles on the ser ...

Award", a deal to publish the game on

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...

. Capybara creative director Kris Piotrowski described the night as "a bit of a pinnacle moment" for the company and the risks it had taken. The deal did not have specific deadlines. The game debuted at

PAX East PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, and Melbourne. Previously, it was also held in San Anton ...

2012 without marketing. Capybara president Nathan Vella told ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

'' that they wanted players to discover the game organically without having the concept spoiled. He also felt that the direct approach to gamers would create a small but loyal fan base, which the company preferred over broad marketing. By

PAX Prime PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, and Melbourne. Previously, it was also held in San Anton ...

2012, Capybara had removed mechanics where charging attacks depleted the time-life meter, and added multipliers (across multiple lives) for consecutive kills. In 2012, ''Super Time Force'' demos appeared at the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

iam8bit iam8bit, Inc. is an American merchandising company, video game publisher, and artist collective based in Los Angeles, California. iam8bit hosts an online store that primarily sells collectible vinyl records of video game soundtracks, but also ...

, ''Polygon''s E3 party, and the annual

Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

fighting game The fighting game video game genre, genre involves combat between multiple characters, often (but not limited to) one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappling, counter- ...

tournament. The core mechanic was redesigned by

2013. The game was easy for players who died often, as they would be helped by the ghosts, yet left experts at a disadvantage: improving at the game meant dying less and therefore using the ghost players (the core mechanics) less. The development team decided that players should be in control of time in order to make players use death strategically, and rethought the mechanic to let the player rewind and replay the lives of previous runs from a timeline upon death. The game was delayed until its release on May 14, 2014 to the

. It was also released to Windows on August 25, 2014 and to the PlayStation platforms on September 1, 2015.

Reception

''Super Time Force'' received favorable reviews from critics for its story, characters, colorful pixelated graphics, references to pop culture, and the unique ability for players to rewind back where they left off after their character dies using its game mechanic on each level's area as its checkpoint. ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...

s Matt Miller praised its playability and explained, "the reimagining of how we perceive time in an action game is what makes it memorable." Critics have pointed out some mild flaws in that its repetitive life-saving throughout the game's time-out layers was seen somewhat confusing and overwhelming, but still found its gameplay an enjoyable experience. ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

'' commented that the game " els a lot more tactical and technically impressive than it initially appears", and also added that " nipulating time in video games isn't a new thing, but the way that ''STF'' uses the gimmick feels fresh and clever. Rewinding and playing through a chunk of game over and over creates hectic layers of action. It's chaotic but beautiful." ''Super Time Force'' won ''Gamespots Game of the Month Award of May 2014. The press also added that the game "assumes a hilariously cavalier attitude about the rights and wrongs of fiddling with time, sending up every sci-fi time travel trope in the book". At the 2014 National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) awards, the game was nominated for ''Game Design, New IP''. Arthur Gies of ''

'' was impressed by its often nonsensical narrative and concept and described it as "The dumbest smart shooter I've ever played. The face it wears is the goofy nostalgist that can't be serious for even a moment, sure. But Capy's implementation of time travel and control is inspired enough to shine new light on even its most tired-but-excellently-executed inspirations." In a 2013 interview with

ScrewAttack ''Death Battle'' (stylized as ''DEATH BATTLE!'') is an American animated web series about battleboarding. Originally published by the website ScrewAttack in 2010, the show has changed considerably over its history. It is the longest-running web ...

at PAX, Capybara president Nathan Vella was asked about the game's character Zackasaurus sharing some resemblance to late 1980s and early 1990s personas. Vella explained that the character Poochie from ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

sketch series ''

The Itchy & Scratchy Show ''The Itchy & Scratchy Show'' (often shortened as ''Itchy & Scratchy'') is a Story within a story, fictional animated series featured on ''The Simpsons''. The cartoon depicts a Sadistic personality disorder, sadistic mouse named Itchy who repeat ...

'' might be an inspiration for the character. Jordan Devore of ''

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017 and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. Histor ...

'' quoted "A satisfying run-and-gun game made even better with a fun (and funny!) take on time travel." He continued, "You'll likely be able to burn through the game in a few hours if you're not going for full completion, but it has such a winning personality that you'll find yourself coming back for more."

Legacy

''Super Time Force Ultra'', abbreviated as ''STFU'', was released on August 25, 2014. It features over 50 mission levels via the "Helladeck"; the

version of the game features guest characters owned by

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

, such as the Pyro and Saxton Hale from ''

Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' (''TF2'') is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation in 2007. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video g ...

'' and Zoey from ''

Left 4 Dead ''Left 4 Dead'' is a 2008 first-person shooter game developed by Valve South and published by Valve. It was originally released for Windows and Xbox 360 in November 2008 and for Mac OS X in October 2010, and is the first title in the '' Left 4 ...

''. The

and

version of ''Ultra'' features

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

chairman

Shuhei Yoshida is a Japanese businessman and gaming industry veteran. He was the President of SIE Worldwide Studios for Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) from 2008 to 2019, and was the head of PlayStation Indies from 2019 until his retirement from the co ...

as a playable character along with The Traveler from '' Journey'' and Sir Galahad from '' The Order: 1886''. Jean Rambois makes a cameo appearance in '' Mercenary Kings'' when the player can encounter him and receive a new weapon, while Zackasaurus appears in '' Indivisible'' as a playable character. Several characters from ''Super Time Force'' are also featured as part of a downloadable skin pack for the

sandbox game A sandbox game is a video game with a gameplay element that provides players a great degree of creativity to interact with, usually without any predetermined goal, or with a goal that the players set for themselves. Such games may lack any objec ...

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a 2011 sandbox game developed and published by the Swedish video game developer Mojang Studios. Originally created by Markus Persson, Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java (programming language), Java programming language, the ...

''.

References

{{Reflist, 2, refs= {{cite web , url=http://www.polygon.com/2012/10/9/3478780/how-super-time-force-fell-into-capybaras-lap-and-yours , title=How 'Super Time Force' fell into Capybara's lap (and yours) , last1=Leone , first1=Matt , date=August 7, 2012 , work=

, publisher=

Vox Media Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company founded in Washington, D.C. with operational headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by CEO Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''S ...

, access-date=June 11, 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507072102/http://www.polygon.com/2012/10/9/3478780/how-super-time-force-fell-into-capybaras-lap-and-yours , archive-date=May 7, 2013 , url-status=live {{cite web , url=http://www.polygon.com/2012/11/14/3549908/from-nowhere-to-sword-sworcery-capybaras-road-trip-to-indie-stardom , title=From nowhere to Sword & Sworcery: Capybara's road trip to indie stardom , last1=Lien , first1=Tracey , date=May 14, 2012 , work=

, publisher=

, access-date=June 11, 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605034929/http://www.polygon.com/2012/11/14/3549908/from-nowhere-to-sword-sworcery-capybaras-road-trip-to-indie-stardom , archive-date=June 5, 2013 , url-status=live {{cite web , url=http://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/9/2/3287765/super-time-force-gets-prehistoric-on-an-asteroid-to-prevent-dinosaur , title='Super Time Force' gets prehistoric on an asteroid to prevent dinosaur extinction at PAX , last1=McWhertor , first1=Michael , date=September 2, 2012 , work=

, publisher=

, access-date=June 11, 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605083747/http://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/9/2/3287765/super-time-force-gets-prehistoric-on-an-asteroid-to-prevent-dinosaur , archive-date=June 5, 2013 , url-status=live {{cite web , url=http://www.polygon.com/2013/3/22/4135668/super-time-force-pax-east-preview-capy , title=Super Time Force's time-travel mechanics have been reinvented and refined , last1=McElroy , first1=Griffin , date=March 22, 2013 , work=

, publisher=

, access-date=June 11, 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605063102/http://www.polygon.com/2013/3/22/4135668/super-time-force-pax-east-preview-capy , archive-date=June 5, 2013 , url-status=live

External links

Official website
2014 video games Capybara Games games Game jam video games Independent Games Festival winners Indie games Linux games MacOS games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Network games PlayStation Vita games Retro-style video games Run and gun games Shooter games Side-scrolling video games Single-player video games Video games about time travel Video games developed in Canada Video games featuring female protagonists Windows games Xbox 360 games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Xbox One games