Chipmunk! [Review]
Chipmunk is a classic style beat ‘em up game that feels a lot like a low-budget version of Golden Axe. Take everything that makes the Golden Axe good and then remove all of it. Chipmunk feels as though it is overstaying its welcome about two minutes into the gameplay. The character models look as though they took Vaseline and smeared it all over a buried piece of bacon and added a face, legs, and arms to the poorly crafted creatures. Environments in the game actually look fantastic but are bogged down by how awful everything else looks. The music reminds me of X-Men on the Sega Genesis. It's uncomfortable and is some of the most annoying sounds you can possibly hear. It's like the Pokemon Kricketune constantly doing its in-game battlecry over and over again. The character animations are super stiff and even at times your weapon will swing and the character will be standing upright in an idle position.
The gameplay is stiff and repetitive. There are no combos, the most you can do to spice up a move set is jump and dash attacks. But there isn’t a heavy and light attack, just one attack. There aren’t weapons to pick up, just the occasional log you can throw at enemies and some rocks that get in the way. There aren’t multiple characters even though you can select between three different ones; they are just the same model with a different color. They have the same attacks other than a different special move animation though it still does the same damage. The vibrations for the controllers get obnoxious less than five minutes into the game. So, unless you want to hear your controller buzz every time you hit an enemy you better turn this off in the settings. At least turning the vibrations off is an option. My least favorite part of the gameplay has to be that you can’t use the D-pad. It is a pixelated beat ‘em up arcade-style game that you can’t use the d-pad in. It just feels wrong. The game itself isn't all that difficult. We got through the first level in less than eight minutes and we didn’t lose any lives. Even against the boss, which were two giant hedgehogs, it wasn’t all that difficult. What makes the game more difficult is that there is actually friendly fire. It makes the co-op a bit awkward because sometimes you’ll accidentally pick up your partner and throw them. Actually, it seems accidentally picking enemies up is a common thing in this game. If you’re attacking an enemy and they get knocked down, you’ll pick them up even if you’re using the attack button. It makes it difficult to hit multiple enemies when you accidentally pick someone up when you’re trying to attack the other enemy. You should only be able to pick up downed enemies with the grab button.
This game doesn't do anything new. Not every game needs to reinvent the wheel but with the new rise of beat 'em ups. Scott Pilgrim, River City Girls, Streets of Rage, The new Ninja Turtles games, and many many more. I'm sure they want their game to stand out right? Well it only stands out on what not to do.
If you like beat ‘em up games you could give it a try. Mileage may vary but I will say I'm no fan of this game.
