It’s also brilliantly written, with jokes that seem to hit the mark every time (even if they do go for silliness over wit more times than not). The concept alone actually sounds like it makes for a harrowing adventure, but Pikuniku is anything but – it’s actually one of the most colourful and charming experiences I’ve had in a video game. Sunshine doesn’t deprive it of what it needs to survive. It’s up to you to make sure that the world is protected and that Mr. Sunshine has been offering people money for their junk – the problem is, that so-called ‘junk’ just so happens to include things like the water, trees, and everything that gives the world life.
See, a mega corporation run by a strange fella named Mr. Unfortunately, whilst you happen to be charming and nice, the world around you is in a bit of a sticky situation.
#PIKUNIKU BATTLE FULL#
When they actually meet you though they realise you’re a friendly and harmless creature that’s full of joy and willing to help just about anyone out – yay! Or at least that’s what the people of the world believe anyway. Pikuniku puts you in the role of ‘The Beast’: a notoriously vicious being that’s out to cause harm and mayhem. They also just so happen to be known for publishing games of a high quality and thankfully Pikuniku delivers there too, with it offering a delightful little experience that’s hard not to keep smiling at from start to end. No chin-stroking here, Pikuniku is simply a joyous and varied little adventure.Devolver Digital are known for publishing games that might not typically be described as conventional, so it’s no surprise to see that the bizarrely adorable platform-adventure Pikuniku comes directly from them. Unsurprisingly, it’s also available in multiplayer. While most of the mini-games in Pikuniku are mostly one-and-done diversions, the one you can always easily return to at the starting village is Baskick, a simple but hilarious one-on-one basketball game played with your feet, and where kicking your opponent is fair game. From coins to collect, weird junk to spend it on, even physical trophies that are wrapped up like presents – a fine consolation for the Switch’s lack of an in-built system – has a dystopia ever felt this good? Highlight But it’s also the stuff that veers off-path that makes Pikuniku a delight. It’s charmingly compact then, perfectly content with dropping a bit of joy into your life without overstaying its welcome. While it only consists of nine levels, it’s almost like playing a platforming version of Snipperclips, with some fun variation, bringing up split-screen when required, missions that see you both tethered together, or an impromptu competitive race. It’s also worth splitting the Joy-Con with a friend for a standalone local co-op mode. While nothing is exactly designed to challenge you, it’s more about giving you a variety of things to play around with, from a rhythm-action dance-off to boss battles against big robots. Sunshine, it’s a brief and breezy journey, carried by a whimsical score from Calum Bowen. Jumping may be a little too floaty, but for a game that’s more adventure than platformer, traversal feels wonderful.įrom being first mistaken as a ‘ghastly beast’ to joining an underground resistance against Mr.
#PIKUNIKU BATTLE ZIP#
Better still, his leg also doubles as a lasso to swing on hooks or race up zip wires. For just a red oval with a pair of lanky legs and a pair of dots for eyes, he’s surprisingly expressive as you bounce him around this childlike 2D world, as he’s capable of rolling around and through tight spaces, or using his long legs to kick switches, boxes or other hapless denizens, whether that’s to solve a puzzle or just for, um, kicks. It’s a sensation you get from the moment you wake up from a cave as Piku, cuteness incarnate with minimalist effort. It just wants you to have a jolly good time. Sunshine handing out ‘free money’ to the villagers of an island in exchange for plundering its natural resources, but with this out of the way, Sectordub doesn’t pause for any deep state commentary. Sure, there’s a greedy pink-faced capitalist calling himself Mr. Men, is marketed by publisher Devolver Digital as a dystopia, it’s hard to resist an eye-roll.įortunately, those fears are unfounded.
So when Pikuniku, a seemingly innocent-looking game with characters that look as simplistically drawn as the Mr. Maybe I’m just getting old, but it seems almost impossible to look at a seemingly innocent-looking children’s cartoon aesthetic and not wonder if there’s a more sinister or profound message going on underneath.