Chicku Review
Chicku is a fun, chaotic platformer that takes aspects from other games and expands them in smart ways.
Genre: Action, Platformer
Release date: May 5, 2016
In recent years, video games have experienced a sort of “difficulty renaissance.” From Dark Souls to Super Meat Boy, game developers are beginning to embrace the difficulty that originated in arcades and implement them in newer titles. This focus on difficulty and challenge has been welcomed by hardcore gamers, and game developers have noticed.
Which leads me to Chicku, an action platformer from the minds at Gatling Goat Studios. Players take control of a hapless chicken who must free his captured comrades and escape the demented Barrington chicken nugget factory. At first blush, Chicku appears to combine the difficult levels of Super Meat Boy with the controls of the always agonizing Flappy Bird. However, if you dig a little deeper, Chicku reveals some tricks up its sleeve.
Chicku is a difficult game to review because its difficulty is based on player skill and patience. If you have the patience to learn the timing and courses, Chicku can be a rewarding and harrowing adventure. If you get frustrated at failure, then Chicku might not be for you.
I played Chicku with a gamepad, which is highly advised. The game can technically be played with mouse and keyboard, but the lack of analog control makes controlling the chicken much more difficult. Players control their chicken escapees by pressing a button to flap their wings. Tap more to fly higher, tap less to drop in altitude. The flapping feels tight and measured, and rarely did I feel I didn’t have control. The few times I did lose control was intentional as Chicku loves throwing new obstacles at the helpless little chicken.
For example, a set of trampoline mushrooms sent me careening into walls more times than I care to remember. After a few tries and more than a few dead chickens, I was able to flap, boost, and pinball my way to the end of the stage. Finishing a stage feels good, and you get a score based on completion time. At first, I was consistently scoring one star, but by the end of my time with the game I had mastered the controls and was able to eke out a few two or even three star stages.
I was initially concerned about the length of the game, as I was able to complete the first of 3 worlds in about an hour. However, the more I played, the more I wanted to go back and get a better rating on those early levels. Chicku may seem short but it is surprisingly replayable, especially when you dig into the chaotic multiplayer.
I wasn’t able to play much of the multiplayer, but what I did play was hilarious and fun. The main stages can all be played cooperatively, which leads to yelling, laughing, and failure. When I played with a friend, we ended up shouting and yelling at each other, trying to complete the stage before the other. The only complaint I have with the multiplayer is that the stages are occasionally too big for the tiny chickens, and it becomes really difficult to find your chicken when the camera pulls out. Despite this problem, I still had a lot of fun with the multiplayer.
On the technical side, Chicku is solid. The environments are well-realized and the colors pop, but there isn’t a lot of variety from scene to scene. The sound design is similarly average, with whirling buzzsaws and charming sound effects. Chicku won’t take home any awards for technical mastery, but it gets the job done well enough.
Chicku is a fun, chaotic platformer that takes aspects from other games and expands them in smart ways. While it has a few issues, and may seem short at first glance, Chicku managed to surprise me, and I really enjoyed my time with it.
+ Fun, chaotic platforming + Excellent multiplayer + Tight Controls – May be short for some – Chickens are sometimes hard to see |  |
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