When comparing Battle Block Theater vs SpeedRunners, the Slant community recommends SpeedRunners for most people. In the question“What are the best 2D games on Steam?” SpeedRunners is ranked 20th while Battle Block Theater is ranked 36th. The most important reason people chose SpeedRunners is:
The game is balances up in a way where it's naturally harder for the player in front to see upcoming obstacles, giving players behind great opportunities to get back ahead. This makes the game fun to keep playing in a group as you're unlikely to keep losing to the one over-competitive friend that tries too hard.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Co-op adds a completely new element to the gameplay
There is a modified co-op campaign in the game where players must coordinate their actions to succeed. This makes for a fun couch co-op game due to the communication one must have with their partner as well as how fun it is to grief them in person.
Pro Well thought out presentation
From the witty humor, enjoyable songs or the theater cutscenes, BattleBlock shows a high level of consideration for its design.
Pro Well balanced difficulty curve
The difficulty curve for Battle Block Theater is so evenly programmed that the player will barely notice that it is progressively getting more difficult. It really does a swell job of integrating the player to where they can handle any challenge the game throws at them.
Pro Gives everyone a chance to win
The game is balances up in a way where it's naturally harder for the player in front to see upcoming obstacles, giving players behind great opportunities to get back ahead. This makes the game fun to keep playing in a group as you're unlikely to keep losing to the one over-competitive friend that tries too hard.
Pro Fun and intense races
SpeedRunners is an intense race around a 2d course. The camera follows the player in the lead, so if you get too far behind you will go off the screen and instantly die. To stay in the lead you will need to dodge obstacles, use a grappling hook to move faster and intelligently use power-ups.
Pro Easy to pick up and play but doesn't get boring
You can get up to speed in just a few minutes as the controls are very simple to learn, but the game still has plenty of depth, as mastering when to use different skills on different levels keeps it fresh.
Pro Interesting movement mechanics
The game has a freeing walljump mechanic as well as a grappling hook that can be used to swing across obstacles, pull towards ledges, etc. This makes for movements that are intuitive and fun as well as well controlled.
Pro Fun power-ups
The game includes powerups like homing rockets, freeze rays and magma balls that can quickly change the game and add a level of randomness to each match making for a unique experience every time.
Pro 4 Player simultaneous, combined local and online
There are 4 slots per game, and each slot can be filled with a local player, a bot, a friend over the internet, or a random internet stranger.
Pro Short matches
Matches are quick and only take a few minutes to play, so it's a great game to play on your lunch break, or when you just have a few minutes of free time. This also makes for a good game to play with friends that have limited time to play online.
Pro Level designer for extended gameplay
There is an included level designer so users can design their own levels making for endless playtime through inventing and playing ones own levels.
Cons
Con Co-op mode isn't easy to get started right from the get-go
Con Competitive play feels lackluster
Competitive play is not as enjoyable as the co-op modes due to stiff combat, really the mechanics of this wear out pretty quickly.
Con Difficult to play without a controller
Using a keyboard to play can be difficult as it is mainly designed around using a controller, so for those without a controller they may be handicapped playing against others that do.
Con Buggy
Like most Early Access games, bugs are to be expected. The game may crash to desktop and players may fall through the level, hopefully these get fixed before the full release.