Mutant Mudds: Super Challenge Review
Mutant Mudds: Super Challenge is a retro-style action-platformer developed by Renegade Kid. I haven’t had a chance to play the previous Mutant Mudd game, so keep that in mind. The story, as well as most other features of the game, is fairly minimal. Players play as Max and Max receives special intel, revealing the location of the original meteor impact site and the fact that mutant mudds are still being spawned from it. Max sets out from a secret hideout in the jungle to locate the meteor and destroy it for good.
The graphics in Mutant Mudds: Super Challenge are really good considering the style of the game. For the most part, the levels and enemies look great. It appears to be a fun, family friendly game, although the gameplay may tell you differently. The game also features a depth-of-field effect used which allows the character to move to different layers. Any other layers are blurred just enough to pull the focus to the one where your character resides, but not enough that you cannot make out the dangers and pitfalls should you find a jump pad. I found this feature to add quite a bit to the gameplay.
When it comes to gameplay, the Super Challenge in the title doesn’t steer your wrong. The game is in fact super challenging. Be prepared to die and die often. Sometimes, it will happen slowly as your three hearts are extinguished by the Mutant Mudd, and other times it will be instantaneous, like when you are impaled on a shiny spike. While trying to avoid these Mutant Mudds and shiny spikes, your main mission is to pick up gold tokens, one hundred of them per level to be exact. Some are hidden behind walls with only a small crack revealing a glimpse of the treasure that lies in wait. You still have to find a way inside and some can be quite tricky. As stated before, being able to jump into the background adds another layer of complexity to an already precise game.
While the game is very challenging, there are things along the way to help you out. There are three different power-ups in each level, if you can find the secret room to equip them. The first is a power-shot, handy for clearing away doors blocking your way to secret places. Second, is an extended in-air hover. Last, there is the vertical boost at lets you rocket up into the air, once per jump. You might need one or more of these power-ups to collect all the coins in each level. That means you need to revisit some levels more than once. One plus to this is that all the coins you collect each time stay will stay, as long as you reach the exit.
If you are looking for a challenge and enjoy retro-style platformers, definitely check out Mutant Mudds: Super Challenge, but remember to be prepared to die, ALOT (the game even trolls you with a display of how many times you have died.) It is available on PSN for $9.99 and is cross-buy with PS Vita.
4/5