Radical Rabbit Stew – Review (PC)
Do you f@#$%^&* hate rabbits? Boy do we have a game for you. From developer Pugstorm comes Radical Rabbit Stew, a new 16 bit retro style puzzle game that melds slapstick humor with fast paced gauntlets of cute and cuddly violence. We dove in ahead of the game’s release to see if the comedy and intricate levels could hold up.
Story sets up as set dressing for the game’s dozens of levels and ridiculous personality. A greedy queen rabbit invades a famous diner known for its intergalactic culinary offerings. Using her army of rabbit minions, the queen imprisons the Legendary Space Chefs and steals their secret recipes for herself. However, a lowly dishwasher manages to hide during the invasion, and sets out across the galaxy equipped with nothing but a wooden spoon to rescue his colleagues and take revenge. It’s silly and endearing, but does a good job of facilitating the almost Happy Tree Friends levels of cartoon violence.
Your goal in each level is simple – smack a rabbit into each stage’s pots of stew. These pots are strewn throughout levels that get larger as you progress. Early stages only have two or three pots and later areas can have upwards of ten or more. Getting the pesky rabbits into the pots is seemingly simple as whacking them with your wooden spoon. Adding complexity to your end goal however is that rabbits will only travel in a straight line until they hit an obstacle. If they hit a wall or block, they stop and remain stationary in a dizzied state for a few seconds. But by using bumpers and banked surfaces, the raucous rodents will ricochet into several different directions. Hours into the game and the whacking mechanic never got old. Larger areas with more bumpers and spring boards help to chain smacks for longer periods and will have you laughing out loud watching the furry bastards slingshot around levels.
You’ll need to be careful though as rabbits can go on the offensive. Similar to ghosts in Pac-Man, when you cross a rabbit’s field of view they will come barreling towards and attack. As your progress you’ll encounter more damaging obstacles like volleys of cannon fire or exploding rabbits. This helps to keep players on their toes and the pace fast which felt unique for a puzzle game. There are some limitations in the game that can make the challenge a bit cumbersome. As an example, there is no zoom in and out feature – making it difficult to figure out where the next pot of stew actually is. Further to this is a lack of check points. This can make some of the larger maps a bit long in the tooth. If you die, you’ll often have to drudge through old areas to reach the spot where you failed.
The game traverses a number of different environments and planets. This aids in shaking up the visual style, level mechanics, and environmental obstacles. An island world uses water between land to act as a barrier and hazard for death. This world progresses toward a volcano where lava replaces water. A winter themed ice world introduces icy surfaces to up the challenge. Upgrades are peppered throughout the galaxy and awarded after successful clearing of a set of levels. Many of these are health upgrades and poke fun at the fact that they grant a full heart rather than just a quarter (a tongue in cheek shot at The Legend of Zelda). But the best upgrades come in the form of better spoon and traversal tools. Early on a larger and more powerful metal spoon is unlocked allowing you to smack rabbits through breakable walls or hit larger rabbits. An extendable arm upgrade grants the ability to hook shot across large chasms and grab enemy rabbits from around corners.
Radical Rabbit Stew bookends several of its stages with set piece boss battles and were easily some of the coolest encounters in the game. These pit the player and their spoons against massive enemies. You’ll skillfully have to employ the same whacking mechanics to smash rabbits and bombs at the huge baddies while quickly evading their crippling attacks. Replayability comes in the form of optional blue coins that can be found in every level. These coins are generally hidden and, even when spotted, require some careful maneuvering to obtain. However, given the aforementioned lack of any ability to zoom out, you’ll likely bypass these coins altogether. The game also offers a competitive multiplayer mode with a couch coop option. This allows you and up to three other friends to compete in unique stages for high scores.
With a gleeful sense of cartoon humor, fast paced puzzle mechanics, and added value with collectibles and couch co-op, Radical Rabbit Stew presents a package that is constantly amusing with just the right amount of challenge. Minor designs oddities aside, Radical Rabbit Stew comes easy to recommend if you’re looking for a quick pick up and play experience for all ages.
Radical Rabbit Stew launches on Steam, Playstation 4, Xbox One & Nintendo Switch on Thursday July 16th, 2020.
Radical Rabbit Stew was given to the reviewer by the publishing company but this fact did not alter the reviewer’s opinion*
