Alright, my fellow Time Wasters it’s time to get started. Follow me into the world of Kit and The Octopod. We are used to playing some pretty weird games by now, what with Sushi Cat, Snailiad, and Burrito Bison. We are prepared for anything, right? Well are we prepared for Bad Mood Bear? Let’s find out!
So our journey begins with two octopods that are very much in love when suddenly Bad Mood Bear comes running in and kicks away the male octopod who I have decided shall be named Orco. Orco flies in and smashes into Kit, after small introductions and explanations kit decides to help Orco save his girl, and off we go!
The gameplay behind Kit and the Octopod is that of an old school side scrolling game. Kit runs left and right using the directional arrow, can attack using A, jump with S, toss Orco at enemies or switches using D, and runs up walls by holding the up arrow key when he approaches them.
I had a small amount of trouble with the wall running and jumping deal. Sometimes it felt as if Kit didn’t want to turn the direction I told him to, and it got me killed on a couple of occasions. It wasn’t a game killer or anything but it did feel a little clumsy.
Small note: While looking over Jay Armstrong Games Blog I noticed that he mentioned adding in double jump into the game. I vote yes on this. It isn’t that it is necessary (obviously) but I feel that is would help improve the game a little.
There’s more to saving the girl than just smashing guards with a wrench though. Along the way we’ll collect coins, free hostages, and smack chickens back into their nest all for achievements and a higher score. These small things come together to create an amazingly fun experience.
I absolutely love the simplistic graphics that cover this game, from the ridiculous smile of the main character to the worm with three eyes sticking his tongue out it all comes together to create a wonderful little world. Even more so is that the background of the area Kit and Orco are in is the last area they were just at. It might have been due to laziness that backgrounds were done this way but I thought it was a nifty idea to show the players that those areas are behind us now and we are moving forward on our quest ( Maybe I’m reading too much into this).
To go along with all of this fun-filled gameplay and the simple yet fun graphics we also have ourselves some very enjoyable music to listen to along the way. Not just enjoyable like "Hmm this isn’t a bad song" but more of enjoyable in the sense of "Crap I know I’m going to be humming this for the rest of the day now". Yeah I might not have made it sound all that great but I’m the kind of guy who can sit around and sing the same song all day long, be annoyed, and then go home and listen to it on my 360 while playing games.
Kit and The Octopod with its entertaining gameplay, simply enjoyable graphics and addictive music has found itself a place to call home among the best of the GiN Time Wasters.
I declare that 4.5 out of 5 GiN Gems are awarded to Kit and the Octopod!