Dollar Dash XBLA Review

If I had to explain Dollar Dash in short, I would suggest that is a hybrid of Bomberman and Bonanza Bros. Candygun Games' latest creation sees you take the role of one of four differently coloured robbers in an attempt to grab as much cash as possible. Let me get this straight though - there is no story here and no campaign mode either. What you get for your 800MSP is purely a party game.

Starting up the game you will be treated to a short introduction movie to set the scene. It's quite nicely made, and gives you a feel for the style of the game. The graphics are cartoony yet professional, and the cel-shaded characters and worlds have enough polish to make it visually appealing. In-game it is a top-down arena based affair, so characters can be quite small, but it all still looks nicely finished with lots of detail on each level.

Dollar Dash features three competitive game modes, each of which uses the same basic game mechanics, but still has just enough variation to justify it being its own game-mode. The first and most complex game mode is titled Dollar Dash. You can see that the most work has gone into this one, and could therefore consider it to be the main game-mode. It basically revolves around grabbing money that appears around the level, and taking it to the getaway vehicle to bank it. The first to 'bank' $5000 wins. Of course there is always a catch - you can actually beat the living hell out of each other in order to steal each others swag. The second game mode is called Hit 'n' Run, and is essentially a deathmatch mode, allowing you to use the various weapons at your disposal to knock out the other players to score points. The third option is Save the Safe, which has one player trying to carry the safe for as long as possible, while all the time the others are trying to steal it. The one who carries it long enough to fill up the guage wins.


Unfortunately for newcomers, there have been some strange design choices in this game - while the 'boot camp' does run you through the basics, the first game mode you are offered (Dollar Dash) is easily the hardest and most confusing! To rub salt into the wound, the first level it gets you to play is one of the harder ones, with the van location constantly changing throughout the game. I actually found Hit 'n' Run and Save the Safe game-modes to be infinitely more user-friendly for introducing the game to people, and to be honest a lot more fun all round anyway.

The real problem with Dollar Dash mode is that it all becomes too fiddly. Often everyone ends up crowded around the back of the van, weapons depleted, punching the life out of each other in a vague attempt to steal each others money. This actually makes it sound more fun than it is; due to the high up aerial view we have little concept of what is actually going on in this situation and so it is usually pot-luck as to who finally drops the money into the getaway vehicle.


In terms of content, while there are only three game modes, Dollar Dash makes it up in other areas. There are at least nine arenas to choose from, each very different and quite well thought out. From rooftops and car parks to marinas and hedge mazes, you can't knock this game on level variation. Each level not only looks different, but has different gameplay mechanics, such as drops, security guards, and environmental hazards. There is also an abundance of character unlocks in the game, ranging from the purely aesthetic clothing and facial features, to game-changing perks and upgrades. Each of these unlocks becomes available once you have swiped a certain amount of cash cumulatively across all game modes, and is buyable with the cash you currently hold. There is a lot to buy here, and if you want it all (and the achievement that comes with it) you will be playing for a fair while!

While we're on the topic of variation, there are also plenty of different weapons and power-ups at your disposal throughout the various levels. You have offensive weapons such as snowballs, rockets, plungers, boulders and even cacti; trap weapons like bombs, beer barrels, fire and oil slicks; and enhancement items such as jelly-shields, speed-boosts and invisibility. The huge amount of weaponry means that once you get accustomed to what each one does, you can really be strategic about how you play your game. You can even build yourself a custom list of powerups before the game starts, keeping exactly what you want in the game and omitting the things you hate. This is very reminiscent of building custom weapon sets in classic multiplayer games like Worms.

As you would expect from a party game, you can play with up to three of your buddies in local multiplayer, but the great news is that Dollar Dash also supports 4 player online for those lacking nearby friends or family. If for some reason you have no friends and no internet connection, you can still opt to play against AI bots. However I really would advise against doing this wherever possible, as these bots can be cheap and pretty tough to beat. Somewhat mercifully, the game does provide you with three AI difficulty settings, but even on the lowest "noob" setting they still make you work for the win.

Annoyingly, the game fails to remember your favourite settings. A prime example of this is during game setup, if you want Noob bots you have to change it to this each time you play. It would be nice if it saved your favourite, or perhaps most recently used settings for the next time you play. This is a small gripe, but as the very nature of games like this is to play only a few games at a time, the constant setting up can be tedious.


There are 20 achievements worth 400G in Dollar Dash. They are quite nicely balanced - you will pick up a sizeable chunk in your first couple of games, but there are a couple of rank and shop based achievements that will take a bit of time to grind out, and will therefore add a bit of longevity to this title.

Overall Dollar Dash is a solid and fairly decent multiplayer game. Despite having lots of levels, weapons and unlockables though, only having three game-modes does mean that once the novelty has worn off, it is doubtful you'll be motivated to return to it too often. Add to this the few strange design choices and non-existent single player, and it's a struggle to recommend it to anyone but the biggest multiplayer fan. You really need three or four people to enjoy this properly, so you might get a few party nights with friends out of it, but it isn't a classic you will come back to time and time again. It has the right idea, and does some things really well, but it is missing that special something. Unfortunately, it just doesn't do enough to beat its most obvious rival Bomberman.

Score 6/10

Nice work dude!

great review matey

Cheers for the review.
I say this will be dead online quickly.

Good honest review mate

Good review and some great points, it's a shame MP XBLA games never survive too long but there is a lot of competition out there.

Great review Waggly.

Downloaded this last night. Haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I may give it a shot later today.

Good review though mate. Nice and honest.

Thanks guys.

Markav wrote:
I say this will be dead online quickly.

Yeah I reckon you're right. It wasn't all that busy on it's first evening out, so I wouldn't be surprised to see it dead in a couple of months. Real shame for games like this that rely on online portions.

If I remember I will try to have a few games over the weekend to see if the number of online players picks up.

As of last night at about 11pm there were only around 150 people on the leaderboards total. It'll be interesting to see how many there are once it's been out a few days.

Good stuff as usual Mister Wiggly character! Thumbs up!