A recreation with its sense of humour baked into its core, KinnikuNeko: Tremendous Muscle Cat layers its signature goofiness over basic 2D platformer mechanics. The silliness kicks off earlier than the sport even begins; an elaborate and dramatic trailer introduces the setting and story and positively units the tempo for the chaos attributable to unfold.
You play because the titular KinnikoNeku, a small cat that may remodel into an extremely muscular bodybuilder with the assistance of magic underwear. You might be wished for seize by antagonist aliens which are within the strategy of taking on the world, pursuing you and your youngster companions across the ravaged planet. You turn between enjoying because the cat, who can sprint and scale partitions to entry completely different areas, and the bodybuilder, who can assault the invading aliens littering the world.
Your journey takes you thru a spread of 2D platformer ranges, starting from cities within the strategy of being overrun by invaders, to highschool halls, to seashores. These aren’t terribly difficult, requiring solely fundamental platforming abilities. You run, you leap, you assault aliens blocking your means, you turn between kinds to search out hidden areas. As soon as a degree is full, you possibly can return and replay it. This isn’t essential, however there are secrets and techniques hidden behind—for example, huge stone blocks that may solely be damaged when you’ve constructed up your energy to a excessive sufficient degree.
The platformer ranges are cut up up by boss ranges wherein you sort out the alien leaders face to face. Once more, these match a reasonably basic platformer model. Every boss has its personal particular strikes and a sample of assault that it persistently follows. They don’t have well being bars, however remembering their strikes so you possibly can ration your individual well being isn’t massively tough.
Alongside the alien invasion, KinnikuNeko: Tremendous Muscle Cat tells a narrative of friendship in opposition to the percentages. Lengthy cutscenes displaying the core characters bonding and standing up for one another are sprinkled via the sport, giving the story an emotional coronary heart. The gravity of the narrative fluctuates between being a matter of maximum urgency and taking a again seat to squaring off in opposition to college bullies. This may be jarring, but it surely matches with the sport’s typically bizarre and chaotic environment.
KinnikuNeko’s bodybuilder muscle groups are rendered in intense element—as are the minute options of the overtly sexualised alien invaders. Your assault transfer isn’t in contrast to the pose of an underwear mannequin. Performing your particular transfer triggers a close-up in your magical bulging underpants. A variety of effort has gone into discovering any occasion the place the sport’s foolish sense of humour might be injected. At occasions, it might probably border on juvenile, however the recreation is a comfortably concise size so the crudeness doesn’t overstay its welcome.
