Coconut Dodge, a recently-announced title for the PSN Minis category, recently released in Europe. In this laid-back game, you play as a crab looking to grab some treasure falling out of the sky while avoiding coconuts. Is this one Mini worth your time and money? Find out in our review.
The game is pretty simple – avoid all coconuts, collect everything else. You start at level one and work your way up, until you either get hit by a coconut or get to level 30, which then goes on forever. Every couple of levels, there are in-game “mazes” that have different paths that you can take. Some of these paths only have the basic gold token treasure worth 100 points each, while some paths have diamonds worth 400 points, rubies at 800 points or gold bars worth 1000 points each.
The powerups add to the fun of this game. Every now and then some beach balls get thrown your way. They have a number on them – bounce the ball that number of times without letting it hit the ground to claim your reward. This can vary from 400 points and up for a regular beach ball to slowing down the pace of the falling coconuts if you can manage to pop a blue one. Hitting a beach ball then moving out of the way of a coconut and then frantically moving back in place can be challenging. The other major power-up is the viking helmet, which enables you to get 30 points for each coconut you split with it – it’s essentially invincibility for a short while.
Playing the game without first playing the tutorial is not really recommended. Without doing so, you are not introduced to the various power-ups you can get ahead of time. As you play the main game mode and progress further and further, any mazes you encounter will then be available in the “Maze Master” mode. This mode sets a goal in terms of points that you must obtain by the end of the maze. This usually requires missing only a small number of gems, or taking the route with higher-valued gems. These mazes actually require a lot of skill to pass in this mode, and definitely helps add to the replayability of the game.
The music is quite catchy, and doesn’t get annoying. Gameplay here is simple, but it definitely has that “one more go” feel about it to see if you can get further than you ever have in the main game. With a high score table that’s already filled with some tough to beat numbers, this Mini is one to come back to if you’re looking for a quick challenge. The game may be a bit too hard for some, with only one hit until game over, but the developer has spoken up about this and is considering an update to add more lives, but nothing is set in stone just yet. Fans of Kaboom! from the Atari 2600 will feel almost at home here. Overall, a good use of your spare change, and you will get plenty of entertainment out of this for the price of a coffee.
PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score
Simple yet addictive gameplay, colorful visuals A nice collection of levels, plenty of replayability Might be too challenging for some players |
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