Putty Squad (Nintendo 3DS) Review

The main character, called Putty, is a blue blob that can change his body in a variety of ways to traverse the levels in different ways. Using the Y button allows Putty to stretch his body sideways, which makes him move along the ground faster, while stretching upwards allows a quick way to reach higher places. Hitting L or R will make Putty punch left or right to dispatch foes as they get close, with the ability to upgrade later on as progress is made. Hitting the X button allows him to be inflated like a balloon to reach places that are too high to reach just by stretching. This, however, will cause players to lose health if overly used. With the amount of different abilities on offer, it makes for some interesting gameplay. The controls are tight and extremely user-friendly, which makes the platform action very fluid.

Putty Squad starts off with an easily accessible tutorial so players shouldn't worry themselves if they have problems with platform games. The difficulty starts out relatively easy with simple objectives, not many obstacles, and very few enemies - although that does change very soon after. Enemies start appearing more frequently, areas require a bit more puzzle solving, and the levels start getting bigger and more confusing. This adds a nice element of challenge that should keep gamers entertained. Unfortunately, when more enemies start appearing on screen the frame-rate may start to slow down, which can be quite distracting. This slowdown also occurs when grabbing stickers.

Once the tutorial mode is completed, two other options become available: Marathon and Challenge. Marathon is essentially the main single player mode that allows for progress through levels, collecting multiple unlockables and finding alternate routes for different stages. Each level completed in this mode opens up objectives for Challenge mode. This gives various tasks that need to completed, such as finishing the level within a certain time limit, collecting all stars, not using food items, and so on. The more challenges done, the better the overall score will be. This mode certainly adds to the replay value, yet because the objectives are the same on each level, it all gets quite repetitive. Having much more variety here would have greatly increased the chance of repeated play.

Collecting items, such as food, will heal Putty, while others, like nitro bombs and missiles, are used to destroy stronger enemies. There is a good amount of items to use, but a lot of the time they don't seem to be necessary for completing the levels, making them feel like a bit of a waste. Stars can be obtained throughout that fill up the star meter that allows players to increase their attacking power. Increasing it further gives Putty a variety of attacks. Collectibles, such as stickers, can be found throughout the levels while others, such as trophies, require specific challenges to unlock.

Graphically, the visuals are bright and colourful and stand out nicely with the plethora of themed stages. Backgrounds could have been clearer, though, as they do look a bit blurry at times. It may not be the most impressive looking title on the 3DS eShop but it is still a pleasant game to look at. From approaching the main menu it is already clear that the music will be enjoyable to listen to as it is extremely catchy from the start.