Gigantosaurus: The Game Rapid Review
Fast Facts
Title: Gigantosaurus The Game
Developer: WildSphere
Publisher: Outright Games
Website: https://en.bandainamcoent.eu/gigantosaurus/gigantosaurus-the-game
Genre: Racing, Adventure
Platform: Switch (reviewed), PS4, XboxOne
Age Rating: PEGI 3
Release Date: 27/03/2020
Price: £34.99 – Rapid Reviews was very kindly provided with a review code for this title.
Giganto-game
Welcome to my review of Gigantosaurus The Game on the Nintendo Switch, This game is released on all three major consoles but I have been playing the Switch version for the last couple of weeks, in both single-player and multiplayer with my 4 and 3-year-old daughters. Let’s see how we all liked the TV tie in.
This game starts off telling a grand old tale about our four heroes – the playable characters – along with the relationship they have with the title character, Gigantosaurus. He is a huge, screen-towering dinosaur who stomps his way around each level while you play the game.
The game is split between open 3D platforming levels with various collectables and things to do, while your objective on each level is to find at least four eggs and return them to the nests which are at the start of the level. Then there are racing segments as you and the four friends race to the next level collecting seeds and skeleton pieces on the way.
As the game is a TV themed game you can expect some good storytelling here; the story is understandable and makes sense from the outset which makes a change with games of today. Basically, one of the dinosaur’s eggs have fallen out of the nests on each level and you must go and collect them.
Giganto-Mechanics
Your overall aim is to get to the volcano which has been blocked by a falling meteor, but that’s not really mentioned much except when you’re driving between levels. The story has narrative and subtitles for you to read, and the cut scenes look fairly decent quality.
The game has good overall sound and visuals if I’m honest and the loading times were not the longest I’ve seen in such a game. The platforming was fairly decent and although it does not have the polish of Mario or other mainstream platforming games, it worked fairly well.
Like all these types of games, the camera angle was sometimes against you and the right stick does not move it, so you have to make do with what the game gives you. Each level has various things you can interact with like springs for your feet, leaves to help you float and even some little boats.
Early levels don’t have any dangers really but later on, you get cactus spikes, dinosaurs and baby dinosaur-eating Venus flytraps. You get three hearts of life but a simple smashing of a certain object gets you more when you need them.
Each level is scattered with seeds (big purple seeds) which you can also pick up and use to plant new trees on the levels. You also have a smoke trail on the screen at all times which shows you where you should be heading if you get lost.
Giganto-Eggs
You have to find the eggs on each level, and helpfully it shows you a nice purple stream to each one in turn as you collect them, or you can just go exploring on your own and ignore them. You have to collect four eggs to progress but each level has 10 for you to find so you can go back and collect them all!
Some of these eggs are in plain sight whereas others will be hidden up high or out of reach. You can use various things to get you places like catapults, slides, water jets and wind tunnels, all of which take some time to work out; often you will need a few attempts to master the tools offered to you.
Once you collect your egg, you pick it up and head back to the level start, dropping it in one of ten nests and then it’s onto the next one. You do this until you have four eggs, at which point the story starts again and you are now moved to the driving section of the game.
In Single Player, you can also switch out which dinosaur you play as using the shoulder buttons on the switch. Each dinosaur has a special ability which may be required, from the ability to push to the ability to hide and the ability to climb.
Giganto-Driving
You are given a player select screen (in single-player) and pick who you would like to race with. The racing is pretty straight forward with a rolling start and seeds to collect on the way. You also have some chilis which act as a speed boost.
Anyone who has played a racer on the Switch should have no problem with these sections. I would have liked some more depth but essentially you’re racing from A to B to start the next stage.
Once you get to the end of each race a cut scene starts and then you’re onto the new themed world. You see deserts and forests mainly along with a couple of random places like the volcano and an ice world.
Giganto-Multiplayer
The whole game has a casual drop-in and drop-out multiplayer for up to four players; this can both help and hinder you in the platforming sections as multiple people trying for the same egg causes camera chaos.
If a player gets left behind, the game sticks them in a bubble and drops them back with you, although a few times it took me, the leader, and stuck me right back at the bottom of a jumping puzzle as someone else playing couldn’t do it.
Obviously, if you have multiple players in the racing section, you’re racing against each other to the finish line. You don’t have any weapons or anything like that and it’s all just an add on I think to keep people entertained during loading.
Giganto-Kids
I have the pleasure of three children, two of which are old enough to understand computer games, so I gave them both a go at this game in multiplayer and single-player modes to test how they did.
My eldest is four and she plays Mario Kart and Racing With Ryan normally, so she didn’t have many problems picking up the simple movement and jumping controls. But some of the jumping puzzles for someone so young was very hard and frustrating.
The younger child is three and she liked moving around and jumping but not much else. She liked the story as she watches the show on Disney but found it harder than Mario Kart and Ryan’s Racing.
Overall multiplayer with the kids was an okay experience; it was stressful at points as the kids would not be able to work out a puzzle or jump the right way due to the camera. You have the option to make them leave, do a hard bit and then let them jump straight back into the game, which was a great feature.
Giganto-Verdict
Overall I was pleasantly surprised by this game. Don’t get me wrong, as a grown adult you wouldn’t rush out and buy it for the single-player experience, but for a family game and a game to get your children involved in the past time of gaming, I would recommend it.
The racing and platforming break up the game for both children and adults which helps them understand two ways of playing. The story is good for the kids too; they laughed and loved some of the things that went on in-game.
I played a few levels on my own when they were asleep and although I did it a lot quicker than with them falling or lagging behind, it was not as much fun, as much as I got frustrated with some of the puzzles for kids (I even got stuck on one) overall we all had a good time.
I’m sure when my daughters are older they would play this game with no problems and this could lead to other games in the same genre.
Rapid Review Rating
You can buy Gigantosaurus The Game from the following place:
eShop.
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