Sushi Cat

Sushi Cat has to be the first game to remind me of a Popcap game that wasn’t Bejeweled. Instead it’s a light, cute, and rather smooth take off of Peggle with an actual cute mascot replacing Peggle’s eerie, smiling creeps. Of course, Peggle itself is pretty much a sendup of pachinko, which I’d have to assume was just a convenient urban version of throwing rocks at walls for fun.

Anyway…

Rapid Review: Cute but manicured graphics, simple but fun gameplay, and unique enough – for as popular as Peggle is, few indie games or flash games see fit to mimic the style. Sushi Cat doesn’t offer much challenge, falling into that category of “Games you’re guaranteed to beat so long as you keep trying”, but it’s slick, fun, and stands out as a flash game.

Full Lowdown:

The Experience: Just drop Sushi Cat from the top of the screen, doing your best to get as much sushi before hitting bottom. The Sushi Cat is flexible and bouncy, so it can be a bit challenging to figure out what his bounce path is going to be – especially on later levels with mobile obstacles. Glowing sushi offer powerups, such as an extra life, point multiplier, or otherwise. Simple and easy to learn gameplay. I’d say “hard to master”, but really, the game doesn’t try to offer a serious challenge. It’s clearly meant to turn heads and be simple fun.

The Quirks: I’ve mentioned twice how flash games in pachinko or peggle style are surprisingly rare, but Sushi Cat has another thing going for it: The bouncy, jelly-like nature of the cat. Little things like that fascinate me, and I can only wonder how hard or easy it is to program that sort of interaction. It seems like a gimmick one could build a more depthful game around, but as it stands it’s just plain fun to watch. Especially in later levels where the moving parts can squish the Sushi Cat down flat, then send him springing off in some other direction. The little animated story (with more unlocked as you advance) is also downright adorable, despite being brief.

The Tips: Earlier levels are pretty straightforward affairs to clear, but eventually getting every sushi in the level becomes more of a challenge. Try to get as many sushi in a single pass (and land in the lit-up slot at the bottom) for the best points, and keep in mind the Sushi Cat becomes larger with each additional sushi it picks up – the cat you drop from the top of the level likely won’t be the cat you have at the bottom, especially if you aim well.

This one is playable over at Armor Games, so give it a shot and drop a comment here if get a kick out of it.

Friday Focus – 3 Reasons to Watch the iPad

We’ve got about a month to go before Apple launches the WiFi-only version of the iPad, so it’s time to take a fresh look at what may be the newest major indie gaming platform. To be honest, I have high hopes for the iPad based almost entirely on my experience with the iPhone – hopes that go beyond gaming and gadgetry, mind you. I think it’s going to be a success, I think it’s going to bring some changes to the portable PC market, and I think a lot of people are failing to understand just what Apple is likely trying to do with the iPad. In fact, it’s fair to say that as of this entry, most of the media and market analysts are lukewarm to negative about the iPad’s prospects.

I question their judgement.

Infectonator! World Dominator

So, what do you get when you cross 8-bit graphics, a zombie infection simulator, and Ronald McDonald? Simple.

Infectonator! World Dominator. A neat entry into the flash and indie game niche, focusing on the progressive spread of a terrorist zombie plague.

Rapid Review: More gadget and toy than game, so long as you keep playing you’re guaranteed to win. But this flash game is a lot of fun to watch in action. Drop your plague and (eventually) more monstrous zombie creations into increasingly dense urban areas and see how close you get to utterly killing or zombifying a whole town. Also, the reporter chick is cute.

Full Lowdown:

The Experience: Crisp, polished, and easy to learn. But with unlimited retries and constantly accruing funds, there’s little real challenge here. But you know what? That doesn’t matter. It’s a joy to make that climb to worldwide plague-spreader. Unless you end up loving the show of a progressively spreading zombie-plague, chances are you’ll play this once to completion and file it away as a neat memory. Then again, if you haven’t played it once yet, here’s your chance.

The Quirks: That classic 8-bit graphic style makes an appearance here, but it’s supremely executed. The overworld map, the upgrade interface, the cities themselves – all looking spiffy. Too often it seems like the 8-bit style is relied on because it’s an easy, timeless way to get a project done (and I can respect that), but the guys behind Infectonator: World Dominator clearly put some serious effort into their graphics – and it shows. A cute touch is the diversity of citizen comments as you move from country to country, so be sure to keep an eye on what the little 8-bit people are screaming as you zombie-mulch them.

The Tips: To get out of the computer interface, you want to press the power on/off button on the lower right side of the computer screen. It’s the toughest part of the game to figure out. Almost as tough is figuring out how to unlock special zombies: You need to take down a special “heroic” citizen to pull this off, and they may not show up for a while. Finally, don’t underestimate the power of any particular zombie stat – everything adds to the effectiveness of the plague, and there’s usually little point in focusing on one stat over the others if your goal is to wipe out a town.

Give it a shot, and drop a note in the comments section if you’ve got any input of your own on this game.

Enter Neatnet

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