GAME CLEAR No. 295 -- Elevator Action Returns S-Tribute

Elevator Action Returns S-Tribute (2022, Multiplatform)

Enhanced port of: Elevator Action Returns (1997, Saturn)
Itself a port of: Elevator Action Returns (1994, Arcade)
Also known as: Elevator Action II
Arcade developer: Taito
Arcade developer: Taito
Saturn developer: Ving
Saturn publisher: Ving
S-Tribute Developer: City Connection
S-Tribute Publisher: City Connection
Clear Version: PS4
Clear Platform: PS4 Pro/PS5
Clear Date: 5/8/26

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Why should I care?
Perfect arcade blaster, awesome soundtrack, co-op to boot. What’s not to like?

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A couple of years ago on Headland and Delowe

Welcome to Elevator Action Returns, starring Kart Bradfield, Edie Burret, and Jad the Taff. That’s a Fighting Baseball ass paramilitary roster if I’ve ever heard one. Anyway, the evil kingpin Red Suit and his criminal organization are hellbent on starting a “new world order,” so you (and a friend if you can find one) must control one (or two) of these operatives and take him down.

To do so, you’ll navigate buildings from a 2D, x-ray perspective. As the title implies, you’ll generally get from floor to floor by taking myriad elevators found throughout the facilities you’re infiltrating. You’ll shoot bad guys with your gun and enter red doors as you find them to either collect intelligence or defuse bombs depending on the level. That stuff is straight out of the 1983 original.

In every other way, the game is maximal and silly in ways the first game couldn’t have managed. The soundtrack (by Yasuhisa Watanabe) is jazzy, slap-bassy, synthy, and above all memorable. The enemies all look like they were stripped straight out of contemporary comic books. Some of them are zombies for some reason. Some of them have jetpacks. They and the player characters are beautifully drawn and animated. The environments also look great, and they’ve got that graffiti-drenched “Crime City” vibe that’s the exact sort of shit you want in a game like this. The antagonists’ motivations are unclear (but who cares?), and they have access to a nuke for some reason. Sure.

It’s all good because the aforementioned action trio is here to save the day. You can’t go wrong with any of Kart, Edie, or Jad. Their mobility and weapon stats are slightly different, and their bombs work differently, but they’re all perfectly up to the task of stopping Red Suit. Whether you shoot, bludgeon, or immolate your enemies, they are sure to die with a dramatic animation and scream. You’ll dispatch untold numbers of them as they pour out of the doors into the hallways you are scouring for red doors.

And it’s just fun! The controls have a sort of stiffness to them that requires you to shoot with intentionality. Turning around in particular is a slightly slow animation, and you generally want to be crouched, but you can’t walk while crouched. Jumps are on a fixed arc as well, so a poorly located one could send you plummeting down an elevator shaft to your death. This all means you have to pick your spots to dispatch enemies well before you proceed along to your next objective.

When you are shooting, it just feels great. You have unlimited ammo with your pistol, which you’ll use most of the time. Powerups are not super common, but it’s not a huge deal because the pistol can mow enemies down pretty effectively. It’s nice to hang on to the upgraded weapons for the occasional sustained hordes of enemies you’ll have to face in lieu of boss fights. Bombs (grenades, really) are also rationed and extremely effective crowd clearers. You can refresh your stockpile of armaments by entering blue doors or destroying crates and barrels. Fundamentally, though, the game works because the sidearm is punchy. Bobbing and weaving out of the way of enemy fire while returning fire of your own is simply, easy fun.

The game is just six levels, and none of them are terribly long. It’s a short experience designed to be revisited. I’m sure I will, especially since I played through solo, and I have no doubt co-op would be a lot of fun. Working together to handle objectives or provide covering fire for a buddy sounds great.

Just a vintage style of fun on offer here in Elevator Action Returns. This competent port (with the usual trappings like rewinds, infinite credits, and other optional QOL tweaks) is available on pretty much all platforms, so wishlist it and give it a look sometime. I loved it solo, but if you can get a friend to join you, I’m even more sure you’ll have a good time.