Kit and the Octopod

Y'know, it just ain't right when somebody tries to separate a pair of loving octopods. (Octopids?) So when mean ol' Bad Mood Bear tries to ruin the fun, Kit comes to the rescue and aids Octopod in saving his girlfriend.

Yep. That's Kit and the Octopod. Beat the crap out of a douchebag polar bear. Doesn't get much better than that.

Kit and the Octopod is your standard side-scrolling, running-jumping-hitting-stuff kinda game. The polar bear somehow has an army of flunkies, and Kit and the Octopod need to plow through them on their way to the bear's lair. To do so you must employ Kit's crazy ninja skills (whether or not he's actually a ninja is up in the air) and the sticky might of Octopod, both of whom are clearly very serious about their mission.

Anyway.

Concept

Clean-cut brainless fun. There's no story grander than what you'd find in a Super Mario Bros. game: the bear's a jerk, you take him out with ninja moves. That said, the game's ability to tell a story with no dialogue whatsoever is surprisingly brilliant, and combining cheery fun with lots of bloodshed (the enemies fly into chunks when you kill 'em) works nicely.

There's also the side missions of gathering coins, freeing inexplicably trapped old men and knocking chickens around with your wrench, but, eh, they're not as fun as assaulting legions of soldiers with a tiny invertebrate.

Meh.


Controls

A side-scroller is only so good as its control scheme, and Kit and the Octopod is smooth sailing on this front... after some practice anyway. The default button layout is A-S-D for attacking, jumping and tossing Octopod, which can cramp your fingers a bit and cause some confusion - but only at first. Once the game picks up the pace, after the tutorial section (which is much appreciated, especially given my occasional confusion between jumping and wall-climbing), you shouldn't have much trouble getting around.

It should also be noted that you can fling Octopod at enemies,

which never gets old.

Graphics

Bright, bold, beautiful. Kit and the Octopod looks great. The animations are smooth and engaging, and the character designs, while simple, are a lot of fun to watch in action. There's personality to be had in this game. Of particular note is the layered effect of the levels, where you can see other areas in the background - very neat.

Sound

Though the soundtrack on Kit and the Octopod isn't incredibly robust, it's solid enough to keep you grooving throughout the game. A little techno for my tastes, but most players should go unoffended.

Challenge Rating

Kit and the Octopod is not TERRIBLY difficult. There are multiple difficulty levels, true, but it's hardly impossible at any of them. It's also a little short, though for a free browser game it's robust enough to waste an hour or two of your time. Fortunately, this makes it a more accessible experience overall, rather than one that hands victory to you on a silver platter.

Just, y'know, avoid the worms.


Conclusion?

If you like side-scrollers and you can appreciate cartoony graphics, Kit and the Octopod is a great game. It's got enough polish that it could, with enough expansion (kinda short as it is), make a decent download on a console system.

Oh, and did I mention that you can access a pirate mode if you beat the game? Yeah. You even get a parrot.

PLAY KIT AND THE OCTOPOD