Super Gear Quest is a Metroidvania developed by Blob Games for Windows, taking place a hundred years after Geneticognito. It was initially released on 5th May 2020, with a number of updates since then that has added new content (especially in the post-game) as well as updating existing content and adding quality of life improvements. It is available to buy on either Steam
or on Itch.io.
A Kewtian Android called Starter wakes up in a strange world known as Tanrega, long after a great war. Having been offline for decades, Starter discovers that his systems have been attacked by a mysterious virus known as X01, limiting his abilities and causing temporary amnesia. Fortunately, Starter isn't alone. Two digital avatars called M01 and F01, the Avatar Duo, help him on his mission; and together they go on a journey throughout Tanrega. It turns out that Starter woke up just in time, as it's now up to him to stop a villain known as Alvis from bringing about the end of the world.
This video game contains examples of:
- Abandoned Area: The Water Well, Greendome, Mokula Base and Crystal Steppe are all areas that once upon a time had people in them but don't anymore for varying reasons. Most of the Factorium is abandoned as well, with only a single small section still occupied.
- Ability Required to Proceed: Two examples:
- To give Starter the strength needed to move a heavy block that's blocking the way to The Camp, Avatar Duo need to complete the Power Zone.
- The air-dash ability is needed to reach the Blue Corridor, which is acquired by Avatar Duo completing the Energy Zone.
- Air-Dashing: By completing both parts of the Energy Zone, Avatar Duo enables Starter to be able to dash through the air first horizontally, then vertically respectively. His horizontal air-dash is unlimited but affected by gravity while he can only vertically air-dash once before needing to touch the ground again.
- Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: In the fights against Astralis, the Astral Embryo and Ombryosis.
- Ambushing Enemy: The Shadow Beasts in the Dark Jungle lie in wait, hidden in the darkness, before jumping out at you once you get near them.
- Amnesiac Hero: Starter. The only thing he can remember when he wakes up at the beginning of the game is his name and that he's a "Kewtian Android." Later on, he meets other Kewtian Androids who are having the same issues with memory.
- Ancient Evil: Astralis. Hypokhrisis is even more ancient, being its progenitor.
- Battle Theme Music: Program Rage for minor bosses (with a chiptune version for the Avatar Duo levels) and Overcharged for major bosses. Alvis, X01, Phantooris, the Ancient Weapon, Astral Comet, Astralis and Ombryosis get unique boss themes. The Mad Butler has a variant of Phantooris' theme.
- Bedsheet Ghost: The Scaresheet, Scareface and Scareround enemies in the Haunted Chateau.
- Berserk Button: X01 is very insistent that they are not a virus, so anyone calling them such aggravates them. Amusingly, even Alvis calls them one.
- Beware the Nice Ones: A conversation with Aria, the Kewtian Goddess of Nature, in the Playable Epilogue has her mentioning that some people get the wrong idea when it comes to summoning her and use sacrifices for their rituals; so to discourage them, she "teaches them a lesson" when she arrives. She never states what she actually does, but her summoners quickly learn never to do it again.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Alvis and X01.
- Big Boo's Haunt: The Haunted Chateau, full of ghosts, spiders and other nasties.
- Big Good: Matt, the Kewtian God of Thunder and Starter's father.
- Boss Rush: Version 1.5.0 added a Boss Rush mode in the extras menu, along with a True Boss Rush that's unlocked by completing the normal Boss Rush mode and getting the true ending in the main game.
- The Brute: Bravio.
- Bubblegloop Swamp: The Swamplands.
- Collision Damage: Both Starter and Avatar Duo take damage as soon as they touch enemies.
- The Corruption: Khraosis. As Matt puts it, it's "an evil element from a very dark place."
- Crystal Landscape: The Crystal Steppe, a place where treasure hunters once used to travel.
- Cute Giant: The Kewtians, as their name implies. Starter and the other Kewtian Androids are twice as tall as a Human. The other Kewtians can be bigger. A lot bigger.
- Cute Machines: Pi and Block Team.
- Cyberspace: Avatar Duo's levels take place in Starter's systems.
- Cyborg: Oreen. She's not wearing her power suit, it's part of her.
- Death Mountain: Mt. Mokula.
- Deliberately Different Description: Two examples:
- In the pause menu there's descriptions for each level and boss as they're encountered that contain various bits of information about them, supplied by Avatar Duo. When Starter is corrupted by X01, the description for the Deep Factorium changes accordingly since X01 then supplies the description instead. Well, he starts to but then remarks how stupid it is and the Flavor Text from then on is blank until he's later defeated by Avatar Duo.
- In the fights against Astralis, the Astral Embryo and Ombryosis, the Flavor Text changes to chants calling for the Khraosis Entities to rise and destroy Starter, implying that they come from another source entirely.
- The Dividual: M01 and F01, the Avatar Duo.
- Dual Boss: Koko and Nanyar decide to team up for the final fight against them.
- Earn Your Bad Ending: After facing each of them separately, Starter X has to fight against the combined forces of Block Team, Pi, Pauline and Halt all at once. He is normally supposed to lose this battle to progress the story; but if he does manage to win, it leads to the Corruption ending where Alvis succeeds in destroying the universe with the Ancient Weapon, Starter X rampages around for fun and Astralis eventually hatches.
- Easier Than Easy: Very Easy difficulty.
- Eldritch Abomination: The Khraosis Entities Dimula, Astralis and Ombryosis; and their progenitor Hypokhrisis.
- Eldritch Location: The Bottomless Pit, despite its name, does in fact have a bottom; it's just the depth to reach it is different every time someone falls (or jumps) in. It was also not always on Tanrega, having mysteriously appeared next to the Haunted Chateau one day. Other examples include:
- Kewtia, the Kewtians' home world, is a lush and peaceful planet that is also infinite in size (a single blade of grass is described as being bigger than the universe Tanrega is in) and its trees grow planets as fruit.
- The Dark Jungle is a shadowy jungle in an enclosed area with multiple doors that must be traversed in the correct order to escape. Once the Soul of the Jungle is defeated, the Dark Jungle vanishes; replaced with the Silent Grove from there on.
- Dimula's Cavern is a cavern affected by Khraosis. The exit comes out at the same place as the entrance does; despite the exit being located significantly further away from the entrance inside the cavern.
- Eternal Engine: The Factorium, Mokula Base and the Sky Facility.
- Evil Genius: Zeemo and Professor Gruplin.
- Evil Tainted the Place: The true final level, World Core, is an underground facility infested with Khraosis.
- Face–Heel Turn: Starter becomes corrupted by X01 late in the game, completely changing his personality. Not only does he delight in the idea of killing all the friends he's made over the course of the game, he's the one to suggest the idea. Since the player still controls him at this point, it's also the next objective. Fortunately, the corruption is only temporary, unless the player goes to the effort to get the Corruption ending.
- Final Boss: The fully restored Ancient Weapon, now with enough power to destroy the entire universe.
- Flash of Pain: Every time Starter or Avatar Duo get hurt, the screen briefly flashes with a red static.
- Floating Continent: The Sky Facility, a floating landmass that once functioned as both a laboratory and aerial fortress back during the Great War.
- Forced into Evil: It turns out that this is the case for Bravio and Zeemo. Alvis threatened either them or their families to ensure compliance.
- Free-Fall Fight: Against Ancient Weapon's Core.
- Gentle Giant: The Kewtians: big, powerful and also friendly and good-natured.
- Ghastly Ghost: The Mad Butler of the Haunted Chateau. He tries to suck out Starter's soul, but fails since Kewtians don't have souls.
- The Ghost: Professor Gruplin is mentioned a number of times throughout the game, but is never seen.
- The Ghost King: Phantooris, the Ghost King of Horror.
- Giant Spider: The Mother Archano, a boss located down in the basement of the Haunted Chateau.
- Greater-Scope Paragon: The Kewtians, size-shifting friendly god-like beings; the older of which can be bigger than universes or even multiverses.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Celestial Nightmare Astralis, a Khraosis Entity that not only corrupted Alvis but is implied to have also been the ultimate cause behind the Great War and created X01. At the end of the true final level, World Core, Astralis is promoted to Big Bad status as the True Final Boss while it is revealed to be only a spawn of another entity: Hypokhrisis.
- Great Offscreen War: The Great War.
- Green Hill Zone: The Grassfields.
- Harder Than Hard: Brutal difficulty. The attack damage of all enemies is cranked up to such a degree that Starter and Avatar Duo effectively have only one or two hitpoints; maybe three if the player goes to the effort of finding all the health and energy upgrades. In addition, certain bosses attack faster. For the cherry on top, there's even a counter displayed for how many times you die.
- Haunted Castle: The Haunted Chateau.
- The Hero: Starter, a Kewtian Android.
- Home Base: The Camp in the Grassfields.
- Hub Level: Starter's Core, from where all of Avatar Duo's levels can be accessed.
- Hub Under Attack: When X01 is able to completely corrupt Starter's systems, Starter's Core is changed to a red colour with all but one of the levels blocked off and the friendly NPCs are gone.
- Immortal Hero: Starter, like other Kewtians, can't actually die; but he can be knocked out if he takes enough damage, allowing the villains to accomplish their plans without opposition.
- Interface Spoiler: Since an achievement is given for every boss defeated, the lack of one given when fighting Destructive Defence Unit for the first time hints that it's Not Quite Dead.
- Island Base: The Sky Facility, an island base floating high in the sky, as its name suggests.
- Killer Robot: There are numerous kinds of robotic enemies in the Factorium, Sky Facility, Deep Factorium and Area X, plus the corrupted variants in World Core.
- Leaking Can of Evil: Astralis in the Astral Comet.
- Legacy Boss Battle: Proto Weapon 2.0, an improved version of the Proto Weapon from Geneticognito.
- Leitmotif: Various characters have their own distinctive themes. These include:
- Android X for Starter. It also functions as the main theme of the game and is used in various places throughout the soundtrack.
- Android Y for Pauline.
- Android Z for Halt. A variation of this theme is also used for Area X.
- Nanyar, Komo and X01 for the characters of the same name.
- Impending Discomfort for Bravio.
- Maniacal Genius for Alvis.
- Hypokhrisis for the entity of the same name. It's also used as part of Astralis' boss theme, due to Astralis being a spawn of Hypokhrisis.
- Lone Wolf Boss: Phantooris, the Ghost King of Horror, is the only boss not affiliated with either Alvis or X01 to not only have more than one phase, but his own boss theme. Although the portrait of the Astral Comet in his boss arena suggests some kind of connection to Astralis.
- Malevolent Masked Men: Alvis is an example of this.
- The Man Behind the Man: Astralis.
- Manipulative Bastard: Alvis. He takes advantage of Oreen's anger and hate at everyone to convince her to help him destroy the universe, he name drops Urudia after the first fight against him to trick Starter into fetching the Corium that he needs from there for him and then has Bravio lure Starter into the Deep Factorium so he can not only steal the Corium from him, but also freeze Starter and Avatar Duo in place so X01 can corrupt him, turning him against his friends.
- Marathon Boss: The Final Boss has a total of five phases while the True Final Boss has a total of nine.
- Monster Progenitor: Hypokhrisis.
- Multi-Stage Battle: The fight against the Mokula Titan has it and Starter being lifted by a rising floor up through Mokula Base during the boss battle, with the final phase taking place on the roof. The Ancient Weapon breaks down through multiple floors of the Sky Facility during its boss fight.
- New Skill as Reward: Completing certain Avatar Duo levels rewards Starter with new abilities. For example, completing the Power Zone allows Starter to lift heavy blocks and completing the Energy Zone allows him to airdash.
- Nostalgia Level: The Sky Facility that appears as an area in this game is where Geneticognito takes place, with Area X being the same final level in both games.
- Not Quite Dead: The Destructive Defence Unit in Mokula Base. Also, when Starter and his friends realise the Ancient Weapon is still functioning after the fourth phase.
- Oh, Crap!: Everyone at the Camp has this reaction when a corrupted Starter declares he's going to kill them all.Xavier: What the!?Yohn: This is bad. This is very bad!
- Ominous Pipe Organ: The intro to the boss themes of Phantooris and the Astral Comet has an organ as an instrument.
- One-Time Dungeon: Area X, Core Zone and World Core can only be traversed through once, becoming inaccessible after their completion.
- Optional Boss: As Starter makes his way up Mt. Mokula, he repeatedly hears voices from a random assortment of characters telling him to follow them. Eventually, the voices will attempt to lead him away from where he's supposed to be going. If he decides to continue following them, despite the warnings from Avatar Duo not to do so, he will end up finding himself face to face with a Khraosis Entity known as Dimula. Considering that the only other Khraosis Entities he fights in the game is the True Final Boss and a post-game boss, he's in for a difficult fight.
- Oxymoronic Being: Ombryosis, the reincarnation of Astralis that tries to copy Starter in some way and turns themselves into a hybrid Kewtian and Khraosis Entity in the process; the paradoxical nature of which turns out to be unstable.
- Post-Defeat Explosion Chain: Almost every boss, after being defeated, emits several small explosions before exploding violently in a big white flash.
- Post-Final Boss: Immediately after defeating the True Final Boss, Astralis, Starter must then face its reincarnation, Ombryosis; however, losing against them means having to face the Astral Comet and Astralis again.
- Predecessor Villain: A few times, various characters mention a professor that built the Sky Facility and created Genetic Experiments and the Ancient Weapon, with Alvis trying to utilise the professor's creations for his own ends. Anyone who's played Geneticognito knows, and the game confirms later on, that they're referring to Professor Gruplin.
- Pre-Final Boss: The second fight against Alvis serves as this before the heroes go on to face the Ancient Weapon.
- Reclaimed by Nature: The Greendome has been left alone for so long that it has become overrun by various fauna.
- Recurring Boss: Komo, Nanyar, Bravio, Oreen, Zeemo and Alvis are all fought multiple times over the course of the game. Destructive Defence Unit is fought twice in Mokula Base, the second time announced by it suddenly bursting out of the wall in one part of the base after seemingly having been destroyed in the first fight against it.
- Remilitarized Zone: Mokula Base.
- Robot Buddy: Pi.
- Safely Secluded Science Center: Unn's laboratory on Mt. Mokula.
- Sequential Boss: Phantooris, Dune Rex, Zealot, Winged Demon, X01, Alvis, the fully restored Ancient Weapon and Astralis all have at least two phases in their fights.
- Shockwave Stomp: Various bosses can perform some form of Ground Pound attack that emits energy waves on both sides that need to be dodged. The fully restored Ancient Weapon takes this even further by emitting shockwaves with every step. Considering it has four legs, that's a lot of shockwaves to dodge.
- Shows Damage: Damage dealt to enemies is displayed by a number that appears beside them if said enemies aren't being hurt for a couple of seconds. For damage being physically shown, there's also the Ancient Weapon gradually breaking apart during its boss fight and the Astral Comet becoming severely cracked on its fifth phase.
- Skippable Boss: Finding and activating all three coloured switches in the Blue Corridor opens up an alternate path that allows the player to skip the boss of the area entirely.
- Spikes of Doom: A common hazard. found in every area on the walls, floor and ceiling. World Core, in particular, is absolutely brimming with them; to the point where careful platforming is required to navigate through them.
- Stationary Boss: Destructive Defence Unit and Soul of the Jungle.
- Swamps Are Evil: The Swamplands are not a pleasant place to traverse through, full of large harmful frogs and malicious scarecrows; though there is a small town located within it that functions as a relatively safe haven, so long as you don't go bothering the wrong people.
- Teleport Spam: Alvis teleports frequently during his boss fights.
- Terrible Trio: Alvis' three minions, Bravio, Oreen and Zeemo, are an example of this.
- True Final Boss: Astralis, with its reincarnation Ombryosis acting as another boss immediately afterwards.
- Underwater Boss Battle: The fight against Zealot, the leviathan Urudian god of the sea, takes place in an underwater chamber in the Urudian Oasis.
- Underwater Ruins: The Water Well, Rainhalls, Uridian Oasis and the Deep Factorium are all partially submerged ruins of old civilisations.
- Upgraded Boss: The conflicts against Zeemo take this form. Instead of fighting you himself, he sends rebuilt or mechanised versions of bosses you've already fought that are significantly tougher and stronger. When he does decide to fight you directly, he does it in an improved version of the Proto Weapon from the previous game Geneticognito.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Alvis used to be a lot kinder before he was gradually corrupted by Astralis.
- The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: World Core, a facility deep underground completely infested with Khraosis that's only accessible in the true ending path of the game. Riddled with various enemies and spikes everywhere, it requires careful platforming and efficient weapon usage to navigate. Expect to die a lot.
- Video Game Sliding: Starter can use a Slide Technique to pass under areas with low ceilings. It's also useful for quickly travelling along the ground, though he can still be hurt by colliding into enemies or environmental hazards.
- Villain Teleportation: Alvis has this power. In fact, he pretty much doesn't move without teleporting.
- Wall Around the World: Tanrega is covered by a see-through capsule-shaped dome.
- Warp Whistle: There are several teleporters next to The Camp that can directly take Starter to the different areas of the game. Of course, said teleporters are only active once the areas in question have been completed.
- Wham Shot: Two examples:
- After Avatar Duo defeats Final X01, Matt is able to communicate with Starter and explain about his mission and what caught the eye of the Kewtians in the first place that necessitated Starter's arrival to Tanrega, with accompanying artwork. One piece of artwork depicts the reason: the entire universe that Tanrega is in is surrounded by clouds of Khraosis.
- Inside the World Core, Starter meets the ghost of Arda, who explains how she and her brother fled their homeworld as it was being destroyed, again with accompanying artwork. One piece of artwork shows who her brother is: it's Alvis.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: After defeating Oreen for the final time, Starter finds out that the reason she's helping Alvis try and destroy the universe is because she's angry at everyone for what happened to her. She was kidnapped and transformed against her will into a Genetic Experiment by Professor Gruplin and so she wants to make everyone pay for the suffering she went through.
- Xanatos Gambit: To ensure that he gets a MacGuffin he needs, Alvis tells Starter at one point in the game that he if can defeat a particular boss, he'll tell him a little more about his Evil Plan. If Starter loses, then Alvis can just take the MacGuffin from him while he's unconscious. If Starter wins, then after delivering upon his promise, he'll immobilise Starter and take the MacGuffin anyway.
- You Wake Up in a Room: At the beginning of the game, Starter wakes up in the Factorium Core with practically no memory of what happened before.
