The Battle Cats POP! Review
The Battle Cats POP!
Publisher: Ponos
Developer: Ponos
Genre:
PEGI: E
Comments:
The Battle Cats POP! for 3DS is unlike any game you’ve ever seen! It has a unique sense of humor, style of graphics, and gameplay. I’m pretty sure it’s the strangest game I’ve ever played too. Does any of this make The Battle Cats POP a good game? Buckle up because here’s my review for The Battle Cats POP!
This game has a story. Well, it kind of has a story. There is a Star Wars-like crawl at the beginning of the game that (sort of) tells you who the Battle Cats are and introduces you to the game’s unique humor. Its an ok setup, but I think something better could’ve been done to introduce the game. A funny cutscene or something like that. In any case, the game’s story isn’t the most important thing about Battle Cats! Gameplay is the focus of Battle Cats and its definitely more unique then you’d ever guess…
On a basic level, The Battle Cats POP will probably remind you of other 2D side scrolling tower defense games, like Swords & Soldiers for instance. But the strange Battle Cats and their enemies set it apart from those other games. You’ll be collecting more and more of the crazy Battle Cats as you progress through the game. The Battle Cats can be unlocked by beating levels, but you can also get special ones by using cat food or capsules via the pre-battle menu. After you get the Battle Cats, you’ll be able to upgrade them! The upgrading process is easy and you will see improvement to your battle cats. You’ll also want to get the Cat God as soon as possible. He is very strange, but also very handy.
Other then all that, you’ll also be able to upgrade your cannon, buy extra powerups to help your cats out, and look up bizarre descriptions of your enemies on the main menu. There are many areas to visit in this game too. There is also a 2-player mode if you can find a friend that wants to play this game with you! I couldn’t find a friend, so thats why I can’t tell you if that mode is any good. Overall, Battle Cats has a lot of content, although the game isn’t always interesting.
Sometimes, The Battle Cats POP does feel a bit repetitive because the levels all basically play out the same. Your cats go right to left, destroying enemies, and finally destroying their base. There isn’t much variety in the way these levels play out. Although, the game’s difficulty does ramp up a bit as you go and that, along with the creative Battle Cats and enemies, helps to keep the game from becoming stale. Battle Cats POP also makes great use of the 3DS.
The Battle Cats POP uses the 3DS upper screen for gameplay and its lower screen for the touch screen based menu interface. You can use the analog stick and buttons to play Battle Cats, but the touch screen interface works so well that I’d recommend using that instead (though I did find myself using both sometimes). This game works so well on the 3DS that it seems like it was designed specifically for the system. I didn’t always like the game’s content: the bizarreness of the game sometimes freaked me out and sometimes the gameplay got repetitive! In the end, though, I couldn’t help but see how well put together Battle Cats is. And one of the things that really stood out to me was the game’s graphics.
The graphics in the Battle Cats POP are pretty good. The characters are, mostly, in black & white while the backgrounds are in color. This mixture of color and black & white gives Battle Cats a very unique look and all of the cats have interesting designs. These designs are also very strange, like the rest of the game, so they fit in well. And I think the game’s use of 3D is really good too! The enemies in this game attack your cats in layers: in the background, middle ground, and foreground, and this is best seen in 3D. Its very cool looking too!
The Battle Cats POP also has good music. The marching band-like music that plays before a battle can be a little annoying, but the in-game music is very good and fit’s the game well. Battle Cats POP’s sound effects are not bad, at least there’s nothing annoying there. Overall, Battle Cats POP is a lot better than it should be.
The Battle Cats POP! could have easily been shovelware. When you hear the concept of the game, you can’t help but think it must have been a bad cellphone game that unfortunately was brought to the 3DS. Then, you play the game and you see just how much effort was put into the game. From the graphics to the gameplay, The Battle Cats POP! is a very good game.
That said, there were times when the game got repetitive and I wanted to quit playing it. Battle Cats was just got too bizarre at times or too boring at other times. Then, there were times when the game surprised me and I wanted to keep playing it. I have never been so confused about a good game!
I’m still not sure how much I actually like the game’s content, but I can’t ignore how well put together the game is. I hope The Battle Cats POP! finds its audience. I’m not sure who that audience is, but they have to be out there. This game deserves to be played and enjoyed for all of its bizarreness. Yes, Cat God included!
Positives
- Solid gameplay
- Good graphics
- Unique concept
- Great Use of 3DS
Negatives
- Bad Story
- Occasionally Feels Repetitive
- Unsure of Audience
Trailer
Article By Daniel Fugate
Daniel Fugate has wanted to be a writer since he was seven years old. He has a bachelor's degree in English and he's a huge Animal Crossing fan. The Wii U and 3DS are currently his favorite video game systems!
Follow Daniel Fugate on:
Twitter: @df2506