Games are often arranged as simply as "You are at point A. Get to point B. There are obstacles to overcome between the two." In sun-soaked Santa Destroy, you take on the persona of obnoxious badass Travis Touchdown as he sets off to prove himself the greatest assassin in the world. With beam katana in hand, he'll decapitate, bisect, and piledrive his way through the CEOs, hired goons, and top-ten-ranked assassins that stand between him and his rightful spot at #1. It all makes for decent enough fodder for an A-to-B romp, but subversive game designer Suda51 plays off
this mindless path of violence to take a look at the type of gamer that would pick up such a game. When faced with the emptiness of his task, our protagonist Travis chooses to ignore these obvious facts, opting to rather make nonsensical quips while backflipping over exploding 18-wheelers or collecting more gizmos and trinkets of his otaku lifestyle. Despite appearing as a paragon of cool in his reality, we catch our hero mowing lawns for cash and humping body pillows. Aside from all this spitting on the audience, there is a game worth playing underneath.
Dropped into a disturbingly lifeless city, players bounce around town completing odd jobs for cash to put towards the entry fee for the next ranked fight. Moneymaking comes in two flavors: assassination hack-and-slash-a-thons and everyday-joe, part-time job minigames. Oddly enough, while assassinations usually bring in the most cash, their repetitive nature can be a bit grating after a while, leaving the side jobs a refreshing change of pace. After the ridiculous sum is finally gathered, the actual game kicks back in as Travis cleaves his way through goon-filled lairs towards the big bad boss at the end. After bumping another name off the top ten, the process begins anew, over and over. Thankfully, combat does evolve along the way, keeping the player's bloodlust intact. Controls are handled through the Wiimote for combat and the the nunchuck for movement, locking on, and blocking. Stance toggles between high and low depending on the angle the Wiimote is held, while the workout of actually swinging the sword endlessly is spared and is instead mapped to the A button. If your foe is blocking high, you swing low, and vice versa, tying combat closely to the Punch Out experience. The bosses may get faster and trickier, but the strategy remains block and counter.
Despite the hostile repetition, the game does remain enjoyable throughout with a great sense of humor, excellent character design, and non-stop beat-'em-up action. Oodles of collectible bits scattered across the globe gives it a little replay value, but I imagine you could extract all you need from a rental.