In En Garde! 17th century Spain is slathered with a sense of nostalgia. Not for the setting itself, of course—I’m not that old—although it is an enticing reimagining, with its piñata color palette and kitsch flamenco soundtrack. Rather, because it reminds me of Asterix books, of Dogtanian cartoons, and black and white episodes of Zorro on Sunday mornings. Of simpler times, in other words, and simpler forms of entertainment.
Playing this swashbuckling adventure, meanwhile, tickles is like the remaster of an early 2000s console effort that never existed, from a time when developers were figuring out how the scrolling beat-’em-up might evolve into three dimensions. Superficially, it bears a family resemblance to , but it’s narrower in scope, more cheap and cheerful. Your charge, Adalia de Volador, is equipped with a rapier but also a barrel of wisecracks aimed as much at the genre as her arch-nemesis.
