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Before I start, no. I don’t have all the stars and all the kart pieces and won every cup on every CC. But I have 100%ed 50cc and am missing just one star on 100cc. Like previous Mario Kart games, I’m counting seeing the credits. And I’ve seen the credits.
Why haven’t I done 150cc? Because I haven’t yet. I keep meaning to, but the online – even against randoms – is just too easy to slip into and then two hours have gone by and you’ve forgotten to play offline. Again.
It’s really that good.
I do love a good Lego game. I’m actually quite keen on the bad ones too, although there aren’t really any. None I’ve played, anyway, and I don’t count any Lego game that isn’t the now-standard collect everything smash everything OCDfest style Lego game.
However, despite all of them (even the Harry Potter ones) being generally fantastic, most are full of bugs. Very few have failed to not lock up my console at least once, and most have scripting errors where triggered events don’t trigger. This game, however, is the very worst when it comes to bugs. So. Many. Bugs. It’s like that bit in Wreck-It Ralph where all the eggs hatch.
Bugs, not limited to the following:
BUGS. And that’s not my only complaint. This game is really short. I think the previous most shortestest Lego game I’ve 100%ed was Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (which also happens to be the previous most buggiestest too), which I think took about 9 hours to finish, and about 30 to 100%. Lego Movie took 8 hours to finish, and 12 hours to reach where I am now at about 82%. The rest is just gold instruction manual and hidden pants mop up – I’ve done all the red bricks and characters already!
But none of this really matters because the game is great. The characters and cutscenes (mostly ripped right from the film) are great. It’s all great. But not Everything is Awesome, sadly.
Perhaps the release date was tight as it needed to tie in with the film. Perhaps it’s a bit simplified because it’s aimed a little more at kids than previous titles. Maybe it’s just the Wii U version hampered by all the bugs (although I suspect not). Whatever it is holding it back is a shame, but even the worst Lego game is still a great Lego game.
I’m not going to say very much about this apart from that I’ve spent many hours on it already today and it’s fantastic. No, it’s more than fantastic. Especially online, where I managed to hold my own. Which was nice.
I’ll post again with more details in the future, but for now, here’s my very first race:
None of the levels are especially hard, so it was only a matter of time before my play on this, sporadic as it was, brought me to the end.
Some levels were fun, and overall the game is good, but a few levels are ruined by making walls and floors move without giving you time to react. You have no option but to die, because you don’t know what is coming next. Sure, dying isn’t that terrible here – you’ve no limit on lives and you can still S rank a level even if you peg it multiple times – but those levels where you only progress a little bit further each attempt then die because something else unexpected happens, over and over, take something from the formula.
Still, it was less than two quid, kept me entertained for several hours (over many weeks), and the music and art style are both fantastic. Even if there aren’t enough tracks so they repeat just a little too frequently.
I’ve still got the bonus levels (bonus == optional) to finish off, so it’s not all over yet, but the main two game modes are done, so it’s completed in by book.
It has been a long time since I’ve been hooked on a shooter. Obviously, Scram Kitty isn’t just a shooter. It’s more a… erm, puzzle game? Platformer? All of the above?
It’s damn hard, that much is certain. So how come I got hooked on a shooter (not my sort of thing) which was damn hard (I’m a wuss with hard games)? Aside from it not being a shooter, of course. Despite all the shooting.
I don’t know. Some of it is the gorgeous pixel art. Some is probably the clever game mechanics of being stuck to rails and every surface having gravity. Some is the gotta catch ‘em all gameplay. The main thing is it’s addictive and I just wanted to keep playing.
Having now completed it, I’m not sure I’m as compelled to keep saving kitties as I was. You need 70 to open up the last level, and I suspect it’s 100 in total to get them all. I just don’t have the skill to do that. Hitting 70 was a struggle, and, truth be told, once I hit 50 I thought I was done. As fun as the game is, and as great as it feels to get all the kitties in a level, I just can’t bear to spend hours more chasing the same cat over and over.
I don’t think that matters though. I’ve had lots of fun and really enjoyed it. It’s definitely one of the better games on the Wii U eShop, and I can fully recommend it to anyone – shooter fan or not. It’s unique, stylish and rewarding.
And it’s full of cats. What’s not to love?