Skeletor: Until Next Time acts as an entirely unnecessary sequel to a meme, and I love it for that
Even if it's kinda weird
Have you ever wondered what the meme version of Skeletor does after he delivers an absurd fact and then legs it? No, me either. But in Skeletor: Until Next Time, Mattel clearly thought it was time to answer that question. Turns out it involves collecting massive coins while dodging lava, swinging cages and an ill-organised fleet of locomotives.
With He-Man and the rest of the crew back in cinemas, it's not surprising the bigwigs would try to tap into the gaming world to make a quick buck. I just didn't expect the premise to have nothing to do with Jared Leto's Skeletor and everything to do with a couple of JPEGs that made people giggle on Twitter.
To be honest, it's such an amusing meta approach for an endless runner that I can't help but love it. From now until this game inevitably fades from my memory, whenever I see a Skeletor's Facts meme, I'll imagine him hurtling up Snake Mountain straight after, no doubt chuckling to himself about his own perceived genius. It's just a shame there's no voice acting here. That'd really seal the deal.
Self-awareness does not a great game make
It will definitely fade, though. While Until Next Time is undeniably competent, it's hardly going to displace the juggernaut that is Subway Surfers. Sure, it looks great, and the controls are super responsive, but it doesn't bring anything new to the table: You swipe between three lanes, jumping, sliding or side-stepping obstacles. Beyond appealing to folks who get nostalgic pangs for The Masters of the Universe or any meme connoisseurs, I can't see many people sinking hour after hour into this. While the facts are amusing now, my interest in them will wane over time.
It does support the point Iwan made on the recent Pocket Gamer Podcast, too. He posited that He-Man doesn't have the largest audience in the world, and this seems to back that up. Rather than using the cinematic world they've created, Mattel has leaned into internet culture, assuming - potentially correctly - that Skeletor is more recognisable as a meme format than anything else. It's a wonderful display of self-awareness that I'd love to see more of. Now, if that self-awareness could be inserted into something with more substance, even better.
