Developer: Red Dev Studio S.A.
Publisher: Ultimate Games S.A.
Platform: Switch, Android, PC, Mac
Tested on: Switch
Chicken Rider – Review
Chicken rider is brought to us by developer Red Dev Studio S.A. and Ultimate Games S.A. This game is a fun little endless runner which puts you in control of a polar bear who attempts to make his great escape from the crazy farm, the really crazy farm. You will have to learn the timing, that can be tricky at times, to get as far as you can without getting hit by the countless enemies, or the obstacles that all have the collective purpose of making your escape as difficult as possible.
Story
Your polar bear opens a hatch in the roof of the farm, rappels down, mission-impossible-style, safely lands on the big red button that opens every single cage that were holding all the chickens on the farm captive. While the chickens are rushing their way past him, he jumps on one of them, dodging obstacles, rockets, lasers, security personnel…oh yea, also a villain on some sort of flying ship that shoots tracking rockets. We couldn’t make it sound any crazier than it actually is.
Sadly, this is all the story you get when booting up the game. It would have been more if it developed further, if you reach specific goals, but alas there’s nothing more to the game.
Graphics
Graphically this game really pops thanks to all the colors it works with. It looks heavily inspired by old cartoons and really captures that same silly charm we all used to know and love. At any point during this game there’s always something crazy for you to see. The chickens all look goofy thanks to the dozens of accessories you have at your disposal to pimp your chicken.
Despite all the chaos that can be happening on the screen, the game handles it really well and it never struggles keeping it smooth while you play. The transitions it brings between areas also nicely lets you know when the game will get a bit harder, giving you some time to prepare yourself for the challenges to come.
Sound
From the moment you launch this game everything will make you smile, from the songs being used to the sound effects during the game. The first thing you hear is this neat little track played on a banjo. It plays on an endless loop while you are in the main menu but you can press x or y to mute the song, as it can get on your nerves hearing it over and over again. When you are looking around in the chicken shop however, the song is a bit more laid back.
The combination of a silly soundtrack and funny sound effects compensates a bit for the lack of voice acting, still we can’t help but miss it. Maybe a sarcastic narrator would have been a perfect fit to help you along your way to freedom.
Gameplay
Chicken Rider is an endless runner in which your objective is to run as far as you can, which is actually a lot harder than it sounds. Release your inner Forrest Gump and just keep on running. When you start off its fairly calm, but every 500 meters you progress, the stage changes and it gets harder. Some jumps will really require you to look at cues of what is happening in front of you and choose the best possible time to jump.
The chickens are all able to double jump, but every chicken has its own strengths and weaknesses; some run faster once they get up to speed, some jump higher. All of this comes down to your preference and finding what you are most comfortable with.
You start out in a farm and travel your way trough several areas including a jungle, a town and even space. If you would fail in your escape and get hit by something you can choose to instantly revive at the cost of coins you collect along the way.
These coins can be used to buy all sorts of outfits and accessories to make you look even cooler than you did before. You could also choose to buy some power-ups to aid you from the start and make it a bit easier, or give you and extra life for when you hit something. There’s also the option to choose a rocket that drops you either 500m or 1000m into the run.
While this is all fun, it does get repetitive quite quickly since you will be repeating the same stages over and over again. You always start from the same farmhouse, unless you use the rockets, but those cost a lot of coins so they will not always be available.
Conclusion
Chicken Rider is very fun but playing this game in short bursts is the way to go in our opinion, taking it with you to play on the go is one of the best things about it. When you have a minute here and there, try beating your high score and get your team of unlikely friends to the freedom they deserve.
Chicken Rider - Review,
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