Bite-sized Review:
Underling Uprising

By Chris Picone, 14 May, 2026

Underling Uprising is a nifty side-scrolling brawler in the same vein as Golden Axe.  Turns out some naughty scientist has been experimenting on animals (including you!); your job is to break out, rescue the animals, and teach the scientist a lesson.

Aesthetics

Underling Uprising is a great looking game.  Bright colours, cartoony, reminiscent of the old Simpsons Arcade game, only more modern and polished to a high shine.  I'm not sure why but Underling Uprising seems to take you from one setting to the next quite rapidly. You'll fight your way through labs, warehouses, junkyards, the jungle, a snow cave, and the desert, all in just the first section of the game.  The sheer volume of different biomes is incredible. And there's no want for detail either; plenty of value-adds such as machinery and people working in the background, animals watching, waterfalls... the visuals are impressive.

Gameplay

You get a small but diverse range of characters to choose from, each with wildly different attacks and abilities.  Boogerman is one of my favourites; he drops explosive poops, and can turn into a piano.  Other characters are armed with ghosts, skateboards, and exoskeletons.  The creativity in the characters reminds me of Clay Fighter. You can find some interesting attacks and abilities by exploring different combos and I think it's the game's best feature. Unfortunately, while there is tons of variety in the game's settings, I found the enemy diversity to be sadly lacking.  You'll fight the same scientists-in-lab-coats, scientists-in-hazmat-suits, and drones over and over and over again. They do have different weapons - some ranged or explosive - and work in teams against you, but seem to spawn and attack in the same manner repeatedly. It was my only frustration with the game but sort of a big one. You do get to pick up and use their weapons but, other than the flamethrowing mech suit, it doesn't have much impact on the game. The boss fights are more creative, and fun, but surprisingly easy.  

Verdict

Underling Uprising looks, sounds, and plays great.  It's full of character and charm and I think should appeal to most brawler fans - but particularly a younger crowd.  I did find the enemies to be a little lacking in variety and this made it feel a bit grindy but the creativity shown in the player characters makes up for this in a lot of ways.

Links: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1896760/Underling_Uprising/