Dakko Dakko’s recently-released Nintendo Wii U game is certainly a tongue twister—Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails. Try to say that three times fast. Not only will that be possibly difficult, so are the challenges offered in this game. But how much fun can one expect from a Wii U downloadable title like this?
The main objective behind Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails is to help rescue the cat and his friends from a lab in space that happens to be controlled by rats. So you have Buddy who is riding a spinboard as it travels across magnetic rails. With either the d-pad or analogue stick, you’ll be able to travel along such rails, which turn out to be pretty accurate and responsive. The challenge lies in the fact that your weapon can only be fire straight from the direction that you are facing in.
One important thing to note about controlling in Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails is that Buddy will gravitate towards any rails he is in contact with. If it turns out that there is no rail to land on, he’ll just jump back to the original one he came from. So it leads to a quite an interesting and unique control mechanics. By double-tapping the jump button, you’ll perform the fire jump which is harder to control but is still useful since you’ll become a ball of flame that can damage enemies and obstacles you run into.
In terms of the presentation, Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails is really colorful and a treat to look at. It’s not going to have state-of-the-art graphics, but for an Indie title, the visuals are impressive nonetheless. Listening to the audio effects, you’ll certainly feel the action. But don’t expect to have any unforgettable moments with the game’s music.
The gameplay behind Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails gets really tough since precision is very important. At first, the game is a walk in the park. But as you progress further, the difficulty significantly increases immediately. While trying to get to the exit within the stages you play in, you’ll have to rescue all the cats without dying. Some cats may not even appear until you fulfilled the condition of defeating the Mouse Commander, which can take a pretty long time to pull off. There are also lucky cats that only appear once you have successfully collected 100 orange pellets within the labs you journey through.
While multiple deaths should be expected, keep in mind that you have a health meter, thus alleviating the difficulty just a bit. With plenty of deadly obstacles, including spikes, as well as numerous bullets filling up the screen, Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails can be overwhelming to novice players. Also worth mentioning is the fact that the Wii U gamepad is used for the whole gameplay with the TV screen is used for providing caution of nearby enemies and giving clues for unraveling secrets. It is a pity that the TV screen cannot be used for the main action.
Once you’ve collected the full set of 70 cats and completed the final stage in the main campaign, you have the challenge mode that keeps you further preoccupied. Here, you’ll have a speed run to see how many cats you can rescue before the timer runs out. To help you out, if you collect a coin, you add a second to your timer. Conversely, if you get hit by an enemy, a second is taken away from the timer. While this certainly increases the game’s replay value, there is no online leaderboards that would draw players to this challenge. Nevertheless, it’s still quite an enjoyable ordeal to put your skills to the test.
Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails is a pretty cool game that may look simple, but believe me, the challenges are not! That said, the replay value is present, thus giving players a few reasons to revisit this game once completed. While it’s not perfect, this particular Wii U game can get addicting. Check this out at the Nintendo eShop for $9.99. You won’t be yelling “SCRAM†to this kitty.
