Glitch Busters: Stuck on You is a 1v4 player co-op platforming shooter from developer Toylogic. In the distant future, you play as four AI tubers who can only be described as an emoji-faced Smartie with magnets in his legs. They are on a mission to clean the Interland of Badface’s bugs and glitches, with the goal of restoring YohTube to its former glory.
Glitch Busters is level-based and sees your team navigate platforms, solve simple button-press puzzles, and defeat hordes of glitches in environments ranging from burning volcanoes to cyber cityscapes. Each of the four jelly beans can be toggled on the fly, with the press of a button telling it to stack or unstack, increasing damage dealt.
Overall, the controls feel very unresponsive. Getting an AI-controlled bean to obey commands takes time and can get stuck in the environment and not work. Worse, the friendly AI isn’t enough to complete the game solo. They constantly take damage from enemies, get stuck, or just fall to their deaths and are forced to restart. Enemy AI is also very basic. They slowly move straight toward you, and he doesn’t feel threatened until he encounters at least a dozen at a time.
As you progress, you’ll compete with your fellow Skittles to see who can earn the most Likes, collectible coins scattered throughout each stage. These are used in the shop to unlock new enemies, new weapons, and pickup items. This is great until you hit a blocked story level where you can’t play until you collect enough likes to unlock the enemies required for the level. This he encountered several times during the 4-6 hour campaign and seems like a very unnecessary barrier.
Glitch Busters’ presentation also leaves a lot to be desired, with a bright, cartoony visual style that looks unfinished. Many of the models look very much like his 2D, even though they are in a 3D world. It’s so uncomfortable and looks completely out of place. Sounds are equally frustrating, making the most horrifying noises when characters are speaking. It was so unbearable that I had to turn it off in the settings. The music is upbeat, but with football chants playing on a constant loop, it couldn’t be better. It’s even more frustrating to navigate a clunky user interface with a dull cursor.
If you can overlook Glitch Busters’ obvious problems of poor presentation and basic AI, the second half of the campaign will have fun with friends in the form of fun boss fights and vehicle-based levels. However, if you don’t have an ally by your side, it’s not worth exploring the rest of the game with a ton of wasted peas to reach your destination.
