Smash Cat Heroes (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Take control of a sword wielding cat and let it loose to kill other cats - that's basically all anyone needs to know about here. The cats are cartoonified, of course, which somehow makes the whole thing adorable, as opposed to a reason to call the RSPCA (or PETA, for Americans). Surprisingly it's not the easiest of games, particularly in the beginning when there are no upgrades unlocked.

Button-mashing is a possible strategy, but it quickly becomes clear that it's nowhere near optimal and not really sufficient. Running and positioning are important skills, and the chosen cat will also have some tricks up its sleeve when things get tough. Things can be rather unforgiving, though, and progress often focuses on making a positive start to the level, since problems in the opening can snowball. Luckily, each level is only a couple of minutes long, thus, another attempt is never far away.

One of the main flaws is that the 3DS system isn't utilised particularly well, with no touch screen options, and no 3D effects. This is a shame, as both would undoubtedly have been useful at certain points. The main action does take place over both screens, but this too is not perfectly executed. Firstly, the top screen is larger than the bottom, which can make for irritating situations where escape is not possible when it really should be. Secondly, the gap between the 2 screens is ignored in such a way that it is possible to be hit by something on a different screen, even though they seem fairly distant.

Finally, stats such as health, time, combos, etc. are displayed on top of the action on the top screen, totally hiding what's underneath. Whilst this is not a particularly common problem it makes certain areas (particularly the top right of the screen) practically no-go zones. Most of this can be forgiven in the grand scheme of things, though. There are plenty of levels, and different cat characters with their own characteristics and fighting styles that mix everything up. As a final gripe, this lacks variety in the types of enemies that appear, as they are regularly cycled through.