Developer Krome Studios won me over, and they didn’t even need a multi-million dollar “conference” to do so.
(A gamer who wants to see some games at a game expo? What a loser!)
Published by Atari, Blade Kitten borrows the best elements from your favorite action-platformers and melds them with the coolest aspects of modern gaming. While incredibly easy to pick up and play, Blade Kitten still packs a hell of a punch with loads of depth one typically wouldn’t expect in a title exclusively for download.
Calling back to timeless classics like Strider, Sonic the Hedgehog, and even Super Mario 64, Blade Kitten still manages to maintain a fresh, light-hearted feel that’s both challenging and highly addictive.* The levels are surprisingly deep and, while sprinting through each of the game’s 19 stages in a matter of minutes is an option, exploration plays a surprisingly massive role. If you hope to see all secrets and unlockables the Blade Kitten has to offer, you’re gonna need to work on your acrobatic skills: scaling walls, clinging to ceilings, and leaping to reach impossibly high ledges.
Oh, and you ride an Chocobo-looking alien thing called a “Noot” that smashes through walls and runs fast. Sweet.
As for combat, Blade Kitten can be as simple as mashing the attack button or as intricate as using your hover sword like a grappling hook to pull in enemies so you can hack at their feet and knock them off their balance. While playing the game, I was climbing on the ceiling when one of the developers suggested I attack the enemy above me through the ground. Blade Kitten doesn’t strive for realism, instead yearning to create a fun, entertaining experience; it’s a breath of fresh air, if I’ve ever seen one.
(Random fact: Did you know video games were originally developed to be fun? Fucking weird, right?)
If you ask me, games like this are more than welcome in an industry saturated with first-person shooters, over-done remakes, and games that desire to create an atmosphere so realistic you wonder what’s point of playing anything at all.**
Blade Kitten‘s appearance matches its attitude, sporting a semi-3D, cel-shaded anime style that’s both charming and aesthetically pleasing. Though the animation is reminiscent of low-budget CG cartoons from the nineties—awkward lip-sync, limb movements, and all—it maintains a certain charm that grows on you the more you view it.
The game’s environments are fully 3D, despite being a 2D platform game. Enemies in the background will rush forward from the scenery to assault you and objects are constantly knocked from platforms toward or away from the screen.
Unfortunately, Blade Kitten appears a bit choppy at first glance. Eventually you’ll adjust to it, but it’s too evident not to notice and too noticeable not to mention. Once again, this is something that slowly fades into the background as you find yourself sucked into the smashing gameplay.
Although Blade Kitten is a tad rough around the edges, expect to be won over by its charms. It’s an inspired title that forces players to think outside the realm of reality, returning them to their roots in order to make the most of the experience.
If Krome Studios manages to work out the kinks, Blade Kitten is a force to be reckoned with when it’s released this fall. Expect Blade Kitten‘s first installment to hit the Xbox LIVE Arcade, PSN, and PC sometime this September with part two launching at a later date.
