How Long Does It Take To Beat Narita Boy?
Narita Boy released for Steam, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on March 30. A Metroidvania style game from indie developer Studio Koba, Narita Boy has a distinctive '80s techno aesthetic reminiscent of Tron and gameplay similar to titles like Ori and the Blind Forest.
"Playing as the titular pixel hero Narita Boy, you have been summoned to save the Digital Kingdom from crisis," PC Gamer's Rachel Watts summarized in her review. "Traveling through each of the kingdom's three regions, you must defeat the evil servants of HIM, a dark program that wishes to see the Digital Kingdom fall."
If you're thinking about picking up a copy of Narita Boy, you might wonder just how long it will take you to get through the retro action platformer. Thankfully, a few critics have shared the amount of time they had to invest to complete their own playthroughs. While it's still unclear if Narita Boy will rank among the best platformers of 2021, reviewers have provided a pretty clear picture of when you can expect to reach the final boss.
Some players will get more value out of Narita Boy than others
Average runtimes can be tricky to gauge, especially in skill-based titles like Narita Boy. Getting stuck at a difficult encounter can add hours, so different players are sure to have varying results.
PC Invasion's Will Backus reviewed Narita Boy, indicating that it doesn't waste much time moving you through the action. "Narita Boy is one of the most polished and consistently entertaining Metroidvanias in recent years," wrote Backus. "The visuals are stunning, the combat stays fresh despite 2D limitations, and it only takes about nine hours to beat."
While Backus seemed generally pleased with Narita Boy's runtime and performance, IGN's video review reported a shorter gaming experience. Its overall impression was also less enthusiastic.
"Narita Boy is at best a serviceable action platformer, with hollow exploration filled with constant backtracking, simple puzzles, and combat that never really evolves in ways that make tougher enemies any more fun to fight — and at its worst moments, well, lets just say that thankfully it's only at its worst for a fraction of its 6-7 hour length," concluded reviewer Mitchell Saltzman.