Earlier in the year—January to be specific—fans of No More Heroes were given a new title to enjoy while Suda 51—creator of No More Heroes—tried to fund a new entry in the series. Titled, Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes fans were even more surprised to see their beloved hack and slash title turn into a retro-action themed top down beat ‘em up and the game was reviewed with mixed results. Despite the ho hum reviews—we had some choice thoughts on it as well—another version released on the PS4 just recently titled Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition. Is this updated version better than the one for the Nintendo Switch or should fans pass it up and wait for No More Heroes III? We find out in our full review of Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition for the PS4!

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition is a big departure from the No More Heroes franchise in terms of gameplay. Paying homage to older retro styled games, Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition is a top down beat ‘em up/action title where players take control of either Travis Touchdown or Bad Man. Players can enjoy a single player experience fighting tons of various baddies or enjoy couch co-op with a friend! This latest complete edition of Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes offers up all the DLC of the Nintendo Switch version and some enhanced visuals/gameplay tweaks to work for the PS4. Level up, fight your way through several strange games and show you’re the ultimate gamer assassin in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition!

Trying to lay low and out of the sight of other assassins, Travis Touchdown has been living his life in a trailer far removed from society. Unfortunately, Bad Man—the father of Bad Girl seeks to kill Travis for murdering his daughter and has finally tracked down the legendary otaku assassin. During their fight, Travis’ strange Death Drive MK-II gaming console activates and teleports the two warriors into the games! Now the two assassins must team up to survive this deadly game and find six legendary Death Balls to revive Bad Girl and end this oddity. Travis has been on plenty of strange adventures but his newest will be quite a wild ride!

While we know many gamers/fans played the original Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes for the Nintendo Switch, our review will assume you’re new to this odd spin-off title. Those that want to know if this PS4 version has anything different than the Nintendo Switch version will be sad to hear not really. If you missed out on the previous two DLC campaigns, then you’ll be happy to know Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition contains both of them. Other than that, Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition is basically the same game as the Nintendo Switch version and that is both a blessing and a curse.

Those new to the changes found in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition might want to pay close attention. Unlike the series mainstay combat that is hack and slash orientated, Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition is a top down retro inspired action/beat ‘em up title. Players still don the beam sword of Travis now with his “partner” Bad Man but gone is the flashy wrestling moves and over the top anime inspired story. Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition feels like an homage to the 70-80s of gaming with retro text based story moments, waves of enemies and visuals that match the older consoles of yesteryear. This seems like the perfect No More Heroes spin-off but sadly what works in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition only works in small droves.

Let’s first start with the good. Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition is a fun beat ‘em up where you can still utilize Travis’ beam sword in various combos and with special abilities like past titles. Bad Man might only use a generic bat but he’s no slouch in fighting and produces some heavy hits that make enemies disappear with comedic strikes. Add a co-op mode and a friend can play as one of the two heroes for some truly enjoyable couch co-op! In terms of gameplay, Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition works when you aren’t playing it for hours on end. Those who do try to beat down every enemy in the Death Drive MK-II will learn that repetition is the worst boss of all time…

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition is painfully repetitive and even with a friend, it will drive you to boredom after the first few hours. While there are different gameplay sequences in Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition—such as some motorcycle bits and puzzle-like modes—none of these gameplay formats ever do much to wow you. Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition works in every gameplay style it mirrors from other genres but it always feels paper thin which is a shame for how amazing the main No More Heroes games feel in comparison.

The pains of Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition continue in the visuals department. While Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition looks a bit better during gameplay sequences on the PS4, the cutscenes look like they were ported from the Nintendo Switch. This is a bit upsetting as we’d love if some of the cutscenes could have polished up a bit or even changed for this complete edition version. Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition still has that loveable No More Heroes aesthetic which is a win in the plus column but for an almost $40 dollar game, we’d expect some higher end visuals.

Ending on a positive note, Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition does come with the two DLC campaigns—Black Dandelion and Bubblegum Fatale—which are fun additions overall. These additions both have more story parts, new characters to control, new skills to nab and offer up a nice bit of incentive for fans of No More Heroes lore. Are they enough to make Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition worth the price tag? Heck yeah as these offer several hours of bonus content between both. For those who own them both on the Nintendo Switch though, we can’t say it warrants rebuying Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes for the PS4 though.

In many ways having Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition on the PS4—and PC via Steam—seems almost unnecessary. Many fans were slightly annoyed that the beloved third person hack and slash became an over the top beat ‘em up and many are just glad a true No More Heroes game is coming in the near future. If you weren’t able to enjoy Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition maybe due to not owning a Nintendo Switch or for various other reasons then you can finally play Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition on the PS4. Just don’t expect a great version of No More Heroes as Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition still won’t appeal to the grand mass of fans. The gameplay still is extremely repetitive and the graphics won’t impress everyone, especially when you watch the cutscenes. However, Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition still is a fun title with a friend and we think it still has a great story filled with gaming jokes/references.

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition isn’t going to wow you if you didn’t like the Nintendo Switch version and isn’t worth it if you bought all of the previous DLC for the original version. That being said, we did like having Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition on the PS4 giving us a new way to play Travis’ non-canonical story. While the gameplay remains largely the same and the visuals can look a bit odd on a stronger console, Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes-Complete Edition still is a solid title that will appeal to die-hard fans of the series. Here’s a question for you all. Are you excited for No More Heroes III? Comment below to let us know! Be sure to keep stuck to our hive for even more game reviews done by us here at Honey’s Anime!