Super Catboy Review

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Fast Facts

What’s the Bag?

Super Catboy is an action-platforming video game showcasing a cat with a wide arsenal of attacks. Though nothing in the trailer caught my eye immediately, the visual style was pleasant and generally, I enjoy platformers. Thus, I was eager to give this title a shot. Did I maintain my excitement throughout my playthrough? Find out in this Rapid Review.

As I began my adventure, I was shown a brief cutscene outlining key events. It was a good introduction, but it did not hook me. However, despite a somewhat interesting hook, the story overall was quite lacklustre. Segments often felt disjointed and out of place. Dialogue sections sometimes seemed spliced together too, as though the writers wanted to share a lot of exposition without a lot of words. Though Super Catboy is a short title, and the story is not a major part of it, I found the story to be a bit disappointing. 

While the writing did not impress me, I enjoyed the worldbuilding. I explored various areas and each looked visually distinct. Moreover, there were a lot of unique background assets which made these locations memorable. I particularly enjoyed how there is an overworld map to connect everything. This made each area I visited endearing and helped solidify each location as unique. The environmental storytelling is solid in Super Catboy. 

Dog Chase Cat

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the enemies within each level. Despite featuring a lot of excellent environmental setpieces, the enemies themselves were quite bland. Visually, they were charming yet, mechanically, they were boring. As a whole, enemies either swung with a melee attack or shot projectiles directly in front of them. This was serviceable, but it was not enjoyable. The lack of interesting enemies made the gameplay loop in Super Catboy far less engaging than I had hoped it would be.

Even my main character did not have many interesting moves. I could walk around and jump as well as swipe at enemies with a simple melee attack and a ranged attack. However, apart from dash shoes, this was it. There was no complex movement to add a skill ceiling and the melee attacks did not have combo routes or ways to add flourish to them. My main character was very basic. Though this was disappointing, I still enjoyed moving around and had fun leveraging my main character.

The Bigger They Are

Though the bosses are a lot better, even these encounters did not largely remedy the gameplay loop. These fights are fun, but each boss only has a few attacks, many of which are easy to combat. This made these segments less grandiose than I would have hoped. Still, I did enjoy how these fights telegraphed their attacks. Everything felt fair and balanced. Though these fights were functionally enjoyable, the simplicity and lack of depth made these fights bland. 

Instead of combat, a core component of Super Catboy is exploration. Within each level, I was tasked with collecting every coin, taking out every enemy, and finding a few bonus collectables. This is a neat component of the game and tailors the title to people who enjoy exploring and finding items. While it was nice that these components were in the game, I found that they fell flat since they offered little value. First, they did not upgrade my character or give me significant tangible rewards. Even when I completed levels with every item, little was done to recognize that achievement. Moreover, it was very easy to obtain these items, meaning it was not fun to obtain them either. The lack of challenge coupled with the lack of significant rewards to make these collectables serviceable, but not exhilarating. 

Level with Me

Despite the lack of a fantastic feedback loop when it came to doing things within each level, the levels themselves are set up very nicely. Coin trails indicate areas of interest but also showcase where to go. These items seem specifically placed to make it easy to waypoint through areas, especially when there are multiple paths to explore. While levels are primarily linear, in areas that have branching paths, I never felt lost, and always knew where to go. This felt amazing. I also thought the checkpoint placement was very good. Super Catboy is not too easy, and it feels fair when I take damage or suffer a setback. There were a few times where knockback from enemies chained together to deal significant damage off of one hit. However, due to the frequent checkpoints, this was not a major issue. 

Overall, Super Catboy is a fairly easy game. From the basic enemies to the easy-to-find collectables, I had no issues breezing through this game. Each of the levels was also very brief, and I could get nine lives to complete each if needed. I found the lack of difficulty a bit disappointing especially since there was no difficulty setting to toggle, but it was mainly problematic since the enemies and bosses lacked depth. Despite this criticism, I can see Super Catboybeing appealing to players who are looking for a casual experience. 

What’s the Catch?

To supplement the gameplay, the developers introduced a very solid visual design. Enemies and stages are appealing, and I found the pixel art for nearly everything to be simply stunning. I also thought it was very easy to gauge distance for my main character, which helped a lot. In addition to this, the sound design was solid. It did not blow me away, but it certainly kept me entertained for my experience. 

As a whole, Super Catboy is a decent platformer with a cohesive and clean design. However, there is nothing overly special about the package. Enemies are bland. The main character lacks abilities that are fun to use. Plus, and most importantly, the feedback loop that comes with each aspect of the gameplay failed to capture my attention. There is nothing innately wrong with Super Catboy. It works, and it has some solid moments. However, compared to the wealth of competitors, it fails to do a lot to stand out. Unfortunately, despite some great components, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it.

3 out of 5

3

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