Now I have a bit of a bone to pick with Capypara Games, you see when they sent me the code for review they never explained that this game would have me awake practically all night due to it’s sheer addictive nature, seriously this game should come with a warning because once you start playing it is oh so hard to put down, I literally had to drag myself away from the controller in order to get some sleep, so be warned.

 

 

Anyway it’s time to talk about the game itself, Critter Crunch in it’s most basic form basically sees you take control of a creature named Biggs and then clear the screen of the descending creatures by using his long tongue to feed them to each other which in turns makes them into edible gems. You are also able to create combos by moving creatures of the same colour next to each other before popping them and also food chains by feeding smaller creatures to larger ones with the even larger creature above them eating both. On the left hand side of the screen is a hunger meter which fills every time Biggs eats the gems and once this is full you will then move onto the next level.

 

The game comes with various different play modes such as Adventure, Challenge, Puzzle and Survival, only Adventure Mode is unlocked to begin with and as you play through you will unlock the others. The Adventure Mode follows an explorer as he tries to unlock the mysteries of the island, therefore in between levels he will occasionally pop up with some useful information. Before you start a level your creature is seen standing on the island with various greyed out areas on show, when you complete the puzzles in one area you will unlock another area until you have managed to work your way through the entire island.

 

One of the beauties of this game is that when you move to a different area it will throw a new spanner in the works, sometimes this will be something to help you such as a melon which appears when you eat the flashing creature, this melon lets you pop three creatures of your choice, there is also garlic which moves the grid up one and a red pepper which explodes a whole line of creatures. Most of the time though the spanner in the works is an unhelpful and more challenging one, therefore you will come across blockers who stop you feeding on one line, poisonous creatures which drain your feeding bar should you eat their gems and also vegetarian creatures who refuse to eat each other. These new additions really help add to the challenge which gets increasingly difficult anyway and also help to keep the game fresh.

 

As well as the standard puzzles there are also other modes integrated into the Adventure Mode, like the previously mentioned Puzzle and Challenge Modes, the Puzzle Mode basically sees you try to clear the screen in a set amount of moves, while Challenge has you do tasks such as trying to clear the screen without creating a food chain.

 

Finally there is a Survival Mode which obviously explains itself and a Multiplayer Mode which allows you to play co-op survival or head to head with another opponent.

 

 

If all of the above hasn’t convinced you what a great game Critter Crunch is then you will be pleased to know that I haven’t even mentioned the best part yet, the Graphics. The presentation in Critter Crunch is such that this is one of the most polished games I have ever seen, the art style is truly outstanding with the creature and effects being a true vision on our 1080p screens. Biggs looks so real you feel like pulling him out of the screen and taking him for a walk, making this one those titles you will get out when showing off your PS3 to others.

 

Critter Crunch is an outstanding puzzler, sure it’s been released elsewhere before, however that doesn’t stop it from being one of the best puzzle games you will ever play on the Playstation Network. It’s a brilliant game which I can’t recommend highly enough and if that won’t convince you then maybe you just love your sleep too much.