Witch & Hero evokes both a sense of beautiful nostalgia and a feeling of frustration that the game was almost great. Witch & Hero is an 8-bit-style action game from Circle Entertainment. The story is simple: a witch and a hero are hired by some townspeople to slay the evil Medusa. Medusa kicks their butts and turns the witch to stone. The hero must defeat Medusa to restore life to the immobile witch.

The game is easy to pick up and play due to its simplicity. No buttons are used, just the Circle pad or the D-Pad, which are used to walk the hero towards the enemies that crowd the screen. He then bumps into them until they die. It’s a very straightforward concept that results in little enjoyment when an enemy falls. The only real satisfaction comes when a boss (a sprite that’s three times larger than the others) has been bumped to death. Just like the enemies, the hero can be bumped to death. After his health reaches zero, he faints for a quick second. Then it’s back to the ol’ bump.

While the bumping makes the game easy to play, it makes progress difficult. Since there is no way for the hero to acquire a move set or swing a sword or anything, the strategy that players will use is just “bump until someone dies.” It is possible to make the hero stronger, but at a price. After each level is completed, experience points and gold are given out. The experience raises the hero’s health and the money can be used to purchase upgrades from the shop. Upgrades include strength, defense, speed and spells for the witch to use.

The witch, although largely immobile, can be revived if enough blood has been collected from fallen enemies and delivered to her. She can either cast a wide area wind spell or a directed fire spell. Sometimes spell choice is very important for completing a level, making the witch much more important as the game progresses.

One of the biggest problems of the game is the progression of difficulty. Luckily, the game allows previous levels to be replayed, allowing for massive grinding opportunities. And believe me, the grinding is a necessary part of the game. For those who can’t stand repetition or grinding, this game is not for you.

Despite its problems, the game is pretty charming. With enchanting music and enjoyably simplistic bump gameplay, it can grow on you. It has a catchy little tune playing in the background and the sprites are just simple enough that they can fill you with that sweet, sweet nostalgia. Although the gameplay is repetitive, it’s not terribly so. The difficulty is manageable after the first couple of levels. Overall, it’s a fun little game that you can pick up and play. Who knows? You may even like it.