Chicken Wiggle: Review

For the purpose of this review, Atooi provided a complimentary review code.

Chicken Wiggle is a 2D platformer designed by Atooi for Nintendo 3DS. Chicken Wiggle released on August 17th 2017 and is priced at $14.99. Atooi is perhaps most famous for its previous critically acclaimed release; Mutant Mudds. Does Chicken Wiggle wing it? Or did Atooi hatch an eggcellent eggsperience? Read on to find out!

Story
The game begins with a brief prologue that introduces us to our protagonist duo. One, a flightless chicken, the other, his new worm pal. They meet following an encounter with a witch who steals all of their friends. Your goal here is to progress through each level and rescue each friend. These friends sit in cages at the end of each level, most comparable to a goal pole.

There are 8 worlds, with 6 levels inside each world. The story mode culminates with a boss battle and a feel-good ending that projects a wonderful message for kids.
Gameplay
Chicken Wiggle is a simplistic 2D platformer with puzzle elements. As our chicken friend is flightless, he has just one jump, though his worm companion picks up the slack. He acts as a long-range tether which will allow you to latch on to distant objects. The worm can also be used to stun enemies long enough for the chicken to use his peck attack. Additionally, certain levels introduce new special-ability costumes, such as the use of a double-jump jetpack, or even the ability to fly.

The core game is divided into three separate sections. Play, Create & Share.

In play, you work your way through the game’s story mode. It features a total of 48 levels created by the developers using the games’ own level editor mode. Each level has its own challenges and puzzles that will require the player to complete in order to progress through the level.

Each level has 100 coin collectibles and 3 bonus hidden F-U-N coin collectibles. Searching for the often well-hidden F-U-N collectibles is probably my favourite thing about each level. Early levels typically take around 2 to 3 minutes to complete, though some of the later levels will contain challenges that provide a shockingly high spike in difficulty. Even so, 100% collectible completion of the story mode will take roughly just 4 to 5 hours to complete. The game’s short length may fail to satisfy the player with their $14.99 purchase, at least if they’re not the creative type.

Though the game’s short length may be off-putting to some, the ‘Create’ feature has the potential to bring players countless hours of fun.

The level editor seemingly contains every enemy, obstacle, environment, collectible and costume from the main game. They are available to all players, from the very second they first boot up the game. Though I would advise to first play the game’s story to get a better understanding of what is accomplishable in the level editor mode.

Perhaps the most important feature of this game is the ability to Share your created levels with other players. Naturally, this means you can also download levels from other players. The menus provide you with a plethora of different options to search, and you are additionally provided with your own friend code so you and your friends can find each other more easily. You can even download additional levels created by Atooi developers.

Presentation
The game is retro inspired. It’s aesthetically akin to something you’d have seen in the 16-bit era. The developers clearly took an extra strong dose of nostalgia while they created the game. Everything, from its soundtrack and sound effects, to its 16-bit pixelated art style press the nostalgia button and unashamedly press it hard. Any Nintendo fan is bound to appreciate the love and care from the days of yore poured into this game.

Conclusion:
Chicken Wiggle is extremely charming, and while it may not be brimming with content packed-into the initial game, it supplies you with all the tools you need for countless hours of fun.

It has simple gameplay mechanics that feel sharp and intuitive, allowing for smooth platforming action. It harkens back to the good old days, where the main emphasis of a game was just pure fun. Any 2D platforming fan or creative type should have a peck of a time with Chicken Wiggle!