Gamertell

Title: Critter Crunch
Price: $6.99
System: PS3 (via PlaysStation Network)
Release Date: October 8, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Capybara Games (Capybara Games)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Pros: Cheap price, steady learning curve, stunning graphics and unpredictable puzzle patterns.
Cons: The music isn’t as dynamic as the rest of the game, multiplayer not beginner friendly.
Overall Score: Two Thumbs Up; 95/100; A; **** 1/2 out of 5

Critter Crunch was one of the first iPhone-iPod Touch games that showed how those devices were capable of delivering a worthwhile gaming experience. Now it’s the PS3’s turn to give Critter Crunch’s addictive charms a whirl.

Critter Crunch was released exclusively on the PlayStation Network on October 8, 2009, for the reasonably low price of $6.99. It shares the same concept as its iPhone-iPod Touch counterpart but gets a considerable upgrade in the graphics department. Capybara Games hand drew all the animations in Critter Crunch and the result is nothing short of beautiful. Once you throw in multiplayer, Trophy support and leaderboards you’ve got a game that deserves to live on your hard drive.

Critter Crunch is a puzzle game at its core but that doesn’t stop it from trying to include a story to run alongside the gameplay. You control a chubby and jolly looking critter named Biggs who is the center of attention for a nature documentary. Quick, unvoiced cut scenes featuring the documentaries host are sprinkled in between levels and provide a mildly amusing take on Biggs’ exploits. However, you don’t come into Critter Crunch expecting a story. The jewel here is how the game works (which is very well).

Critter Crunch appears to be a simple match-three game but it’s slightly more complex than that.

The object of the game is to feed small creatures to larger creatures until they literally explode. If more than one creature of the same color happens to be near the exploding one, they will all explode. Exploding critters leave behind jewels that Biggs can consume for extra points. These points go on to fill the hunger meter on the left side of the screen. The level ends once the meter is full. The game wants you to chain combos together for three reasons: 1) You clear the level faster, 2) you bump up your rankings in the leaderboards and 3) you can vomit rainbows into your son’s named Smalls mouth for even more points and a good laugh.

Yes, vomiting rainbows into Smalls mouth is a huge part of maximizing points.You gain this ability by chaining together a chain of eight or more exploding critters. Racking up these combos isn’t necessary to clear the level, but it does give a considerable amount of bragging rights.

Critter Crunch is spread out across many areas with unique looks in each one. In many of these areas new types of critters are introduced. Once such creature is a bomb that clears everything caught in its blast radius. Another special critter type is made of rock. He cannot be fed or moved around by Biggs. Instead he must be dispatched by exploding critters above him (causing him to drop off his vine) or by using a power foods.

Power foods are earned by exploding random glowing critters. This causes them to drop food such as watermelons. Biggs can use the seeds from the watermelon to instantly pop any critter. Midway through the game all the critters, tricks and abilities you’ve learned are lumped together. The critters even start to descend down the vines more quickly that before, making fast thinking essential.

Multiplayer mode is split between cooperative and competitive modes. Cooperative mode tests how long you and a friend can last through the continuous onslaught of critters and competitive mode is a one on one puzzle fight to the death. It works similar to the Puzzle Fighter philosophy by giving you special powers to temporarily make things more difficult for your opponent. I’ve been on the receiving in of a stunning lightning bolt attack on more than a few occasions.

Even though multiplayer is fun, it’s near impossible to play it to your full potential without through most of the adventure mode. There are some unique critter types that can only be popped in specific ways and multiplayer isn’t the place to try and learn the trick.

Critter Crunch is an excellent edition to anyone’s PSN library. There’s no other game on the network with a hand drawn art style as gorgeous as this. New elements are introduced at a steady pace which stops things from ever getting too repetitive. If puzzler’s are your thing then Critter Crunch is a safe bet.

Site [Critter Crunch]