Summer Catchers [Review]

By Thunderheavyarm

So this one hasunfortunately been sitting in my game library for some time now.Originally, it was given to us by developers FaceIT and publishersNoodlecake Studios comes their casual 2D adventure game. Advertisedas an epic road trip adventure of the life time, you’ll need tobuckle in and get your reflexes ready if you’re going to make it tothe end.

The story beginswith a young girl awakening from a snow drift deep in the heart ofwinter woods. Deciding that she’s never seen summer before, shesets off to lands beyond in search of the elusive season. Along theway she’s helped by various shopkeepers that sell her gadgets,outfits and boxcars for her journey. There are others out there aswell that provide her with help or advice, but there are those thatwant to keep her from moving forward.

Gameplay

The game play isvery simplistic. The objective of the game is to complete the varioustasks of the store owners so that you can advance to the next area.On each course, there are obstacles that gradually damage yourboxcar. Using various gadgets correctly allows you to get past theobstacle and to complete your objective. The game comes off as a bitof grind as you need to buy these gadgets, but once you hit a tippingpoint you’ll be making more than you can reasonably spend on them.In the shop they even show you a picture of what obstacle they can beused to overcome, and they’re very easy to understand from just thesmall images.

The problem that Ihave with the game is that you have no control over what gadgets youcan use. As you play the game, you get a choice of three items inyour bag, and there’s no guarantee that they will be different. Soif you need a battering ram to get past a hard object, but the gamemight give you three rocket boosts. Which, of course you gotta gofast, but generally not into a solid structure. This is where thegame comes off as a grind as you wait for your random inventory andthe challenges to align so you can get past them just long enough tofinish the shopkeeper objectives. In a recent patch, they did add theability to switch out to a random new gadget, so a string of bad luckis less likely to keep you from advancing.

The map is litteredwith little bonuses as well. At first this is just a drum thatincreases the currency for a short time that you gain for surviving.The most prized at the start is the bubble, that gives you a freecollision hit. There were plenty of times that because of this onespower-up I was able to get a decent amount of money to buy thegadgets I needed to advance normally. Finally, as you progressthrough the game you’ll get allies that provide unique abilities.All you need to do is pick up the horn and they’ll come and helpyou. Pretty handy especially since one of the allies lets you knowwhat obstacles are coming ahead so you can swap out your gadgets.

Art and Music

The game art is 16bit level pixel art. Even with the limited art style though, thecharacters are rather expressive. From subtle changes on thecharacter, a wealth of emotion is passed through the media. While alot of people are using this retro style just for the nostalgia pull,the developer has made it a new media for subtler expressions.

The same can be saidfor the music in the game. As I was writing this review, I couldn’tremember hearing any music but I had the impression that there was.It’s almost unheard of for a game to have no music, especiallygiven all of the cut scenes that the game has. In the levels thatI’ve gotten to, there was some music playing very softly, making itunderstandable why I didn’t think there was any. That said, withthe art style of this game, having a more active musical score mightactually take away from the game rather than enhancing it.

Review

At first, I actuallydidn’t like this game because of the grinding aspects and therandom nature of the backpack. At least until the update was addedletting me have a little more control over my inventory. I like theart style and even the gameplay itself becomes enjoyably addicting.It’s a game that’s you can set down and come back to withouthaving to worry about your skills deteriorating like other games thatare out today. So if you’re interested in an easy game to playbetween games or if you have a kid that’s looking to get intogaming give Summer Catchers a try. Until next time guys.