Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails (Wii U) Review

Remember Ikaruga on the GameCube? After just a short time with Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails it immediately seemed reminiscent of Treasure's classic, which itself offered a dual attack approach. Okay, Dakko Dakko's Wii U eShop game is not a vertical shooter (and turning TVs on their side offers no real benefit…), but the intensity of its action and the ability to flick quickly at will between blasting enemies using laser beams or a powerful jump 'n' spin ability really brought fond memories flooding back. It really is a testament to Dakko Dakko's design how well this holds up when compared to such a magnificent shmup.

This is not merely a 'fly all over, blasting like mad' title, as there is the added twist of gravitational pull mixed in, making for some crazy leaps and treacherous arcs through space before landing on the next nearest rail. Players take control of a little cat in a pod that rolls back and forth around maze-like rails in an effort to rescue fellow felines from nefarious mice (yes, the ultimate role reversal!). Craftily built locales filled with death-traps, one-way passageways, breakable barriers and more await and progression through the game relies on the number of cats saved in each zone. Not every single one needs to be regained straight away as there is leniency in the pathway to the end of the game, but getting as many as possible early on opens the door to more options further down the line. Some may merely want to push on as far as possible with the minimum number of kitties in tow, opting to go all the way back and play through again to garner more, and having that choice is appealing. However, purists will hit each stage repeatedly to acquire all cats before opening the next numbered doorway on the central hub.

'Collect all the coins on a stage' - one of the methods of saving a kitty - sounds easy enough, but given how complicated the way some areas are laid out, leaping from platform to platform (some of which are moving or even almost out of camera view for those 'leap of faith' moments) takes considerable levels of concentration and twitch-like reactions, especially when being pelted by an onslaught weapon-fire. This is no easy ride by any means, and Scram Kitty thrives on a combination of high difficulty and a craving for just one more go. Trying to fathom the best way to despatch a barrage of space vermin coming from all angles whilst only being able to shoot perpendicular to the rail currently attached to will boggle the mind at the beginning, but once adapting to the 'slide-jump-shoot' pattern to swiftly reach bends along a track to change the trajectory of return fire, smash through spiked barriers to reach new sections, and unlock other weaponry, what unfolds is simply majestic, and will having older shmup fans writhing with glee, albeit with sore thumbs from the frantic movement when using the D-Pad.

Other ways of catching the cats? Well, defeat a mouse commander who seriously does not want to give up; simply reach the end of a level (easier said than done); or play touch-and-chase, whereby a timer appears upon reaching one of the cats and then off it bounces to somewhere else, thus triggering the chase. This last one again sounds like quite a rudimentary task, yet against the clock, and with stages needing to be not only memorised but near enough perfected, these are possibly the cats to grab once all others have been collected for fear of throwing the GamePad out of the nearest window in frustration (in a positive way, of course!).