I can’t imagine there was a huge demographic calling for the return of Putty Squad, but it’s here now and I suppose that’s something. Perhaps not at £15.99, but when you can grab it on offer. If you feel like a throwback, there’s definitely value to be had here. These alone will offers hours more enjoyment, especially if you’re aiming for 100%. Most levels have an alternative objective version that has you getting through to the end of the level without eating food, by killing all the enemies or by beating a certain time. There’s a platinum trophy that’ll keep you going for hours and hours on end, and in-game challenges and collectables that’ll almost certainly have you getting the most out of everything. If you manage to get on with it, good news: there’s a load of stuff to do. There will be people that will be able to look past the fact that this is, for all intents and purposes, an Amiga port two decades too late, but your first reaction should be to pass on this purchase.
No amount of rose tinted nostalgia glasses will change that, unless you’re really willing to ignore twenty years of development in our industry. Putty Squad pretty much proves that retro doesn’t necessarily always bring with it a charm worth looking into. If you want one of your first next-gen experiences to be something ignored for almost two decades, look no further There are different places you need to get to – and usually levels are built around finding them, rather than being strong levels in their own right – but getting there is the challenge, not the threats protecting it. Enemies really aren’t too much of a threat and it’ll be your own mistiming that’ll kill you more often than not. While it’s definitely a plus, it also means that your adventure will feel much slower, more pedestrian than perhaps you’re used to.ĭon’t let my use of the word mindful make you think that you’ll need to be on constant vigil. Whichever, you have to be mindful of both vertical and horizontal planes in Putty Squad, something that doesn’t happen very often in modern platformers. Some levels are straight up, others are spread along a spacier area. This exploration gives Putty Squad a very open feel, although levels aren’t big enough that you’re going to get lost as you go. You’ll come across various enemies – rather dumb although difficult enough in number – and obstacles along the way. The gameplay is simple: find all the red putties and get to the door. On a brand new console the experience suffers as a result. Things that we expect from modern platform games (made standard by Mario and Sonic, both characters that pre-date our blue putty buddy) just aren’t present here. They were wrong, because although Putty Squad still works well in terms of what it offers, it suffers by how old it feels, how random. The level design and character control feels dated and things need an overall tightening, but for the right demographic Putty Squad is decent