4cr Plays – Mutant Mudds

40 LEVELS – 5 WORLDS – 3 POWER-UPS – 1 AWESOME GRANNIE – AND MORE…

Mutant Mudds is an exciting new platform game for the Nintendo 3DS from award-winning developer, Renegade Kid. This marks the company’s first self-published title, available exclusively on the Nintendo eShop in 2012.

Our hero may be a 2D character, but he can take advantage of the third dimension by jetting between the background and the foreground playfields in this unique dimensionally-woven platform adventure (the stereo 3D effect looks amazing on the 3DS).

Armed with a heavy-duty water cannon and H20-powered jet pack, Max steps out onto the porch of his (Grannie’s) home; determined to thwart the filthy plans of the Mutant Mudd army by blasting and hovering his way across the soiled landscape.

With the intro information (AND the trailer out of the way), let’s start with the review!

Mutant Mudds is a game that started as a 3D platformer intended for DSiware. Renegade Kid was trying to get a publisher to sign on for the release, and thus, they worked on a video to show what the game would be about and how the gameplay would be handled.

After having trouble securing a deal, and with the 3DS having a set launch date, Renegade Kid shifted gears, made a 180°, and performed any other actions that symbolize a change in their approach to this project. Gone were the 3D graphics and DSiware release. Now, Max was the pixel-filled protagonist of an interesting 2D platforming game. The main theme of the game – Mudds have invaded and you must wash away all of them with your trusty water hose – and some of the gameplay mechanics were all that remained. Come to think of it, Mutant Mudds could even be considered a demake of the DSiware prototype! How meta is that?

As is always the case, 2D gaming is awesome, just from the fact that it’s in 2D. Mutant Mudds is no exception. When you start up the game, you’ll realize that everything looks great in 2D. The foreground, the background, and whatever the part that is even closer to us that the foreground is called (Foreground plus? Foreground Alpha?) – they all look sharp and colorful… and once you move the 3D switch to the max, everything truly comes to life! Everything is more colorful and shiny, and the 3D effect definitely makes Max, the enemies, the collectibles, and the levels pop-out in style.

The controls for the game are easy to understand. You can move with either the D-pad or the analog nub, jump with B or A, and shoot with X or Y. You also have a hover pack to… hover after jumping. Trigger it by pressing either jump button right after your initial jump. You’ll get the hang of all of this on the first level since the game is kind enough to teach it to you. The most important thing to remember is that the hover pack has a limited used since, once you activate it, the hover bar is drained FAST. Be careful or you’ll fall into a pit!

And now, it’s time to meet our cast (or meet them again, since you’ve already seen the trailer)!

MAX (THE HERO)
Max is the hero, set on defeating the Mutant Mudds. Being somewhat of a whiz kid, Max created his own heavy-duty water cannon and H20-powered jetpack to thwart the evil Mutant Mudd army.

GRANNIE
Max’s Grannie is a smart cookie. She taught much of what she knows to her grandson. Grannie has created a few upgrades to Max’s equipment that can be “earned” with Golden Diamonds in Grannie’s dusty attic.

The trailer set the spotlight on top of some of the Mudds that we’ll encounter in our adventure, so it’s only fair that we also mention some of them:

SACKY SIT-SIT
The Sacky Sit-Sit is considered the laziest Mutant Mudd in the army. Their routine mainly consists of sitting. Don’t be fooled by their cool demeanor, though; their touch is still harmful, and they tend to perch themselves in tricky places.

SKEYES
Skeyes are fine examples of the mutations the Mutant Mudd army is capable of. A brown eye in the sky; Skeyes are tough cookies that patrol in search of foes.

ROYAL MUDD
Convinced they are part of the royal guard, Royal Mudds come bearing arms in the form of a shield and a sword. Approach these firecrackers with caution.

The 3D effect in Max is put to great use when you realize that you can actually go anywhere you want as long as you can find the proper jump pad to transport Max into a new parallax dimension. You might start a level walking in this layer. All is normal, all is well – not too different from how 2D platformers handle their action/adventure/jumping/collectible runs/adventures/journeys/quests, right? You move from left to right. You collect everything you can get your hands on. You can even backtrack in case you missed one of the Golden Diamonds or if you want to find the secret level that is hidden on each one of the regular 20 levels that Mutant Mudds has to offer.

But then, you could find a way to get all upfront and personal with the screen. Look how big Max is in that image! When he’s in this layer, the 3D effect allows the other layers to continue to look good, and things never seem over-pixelated at all, but the focus is now completely placed on our hero in order to make it easier for us to carry on with our hero-ing duties. This is all possible thanks to the “retro style game on a modern console/portable” mechanics and principles at work. Be glad of that since, back in the day, we used to get pixel flicker when two characters dared to be at the same line height on screen.. and we liked it!

But maybe, just maybe, you’ll be good enough to make it aaaaall the way back there. Oh noes, Max is so tiny! Controlling Max in the background is not a problem since all actions work as they should, but you do have to be extra careful with your jumps and with the Mudds since, sometimes, elements in the first layer usually hide them on purpose.

It is because of all of this that Mutant Mudds works so well in 3D. As soon as you focus on the screen, you forget you’ve turned the 3D since everything just clicks.

The touchscreen is used to show you the total of Golden Diamonds you’ve collected, the level you’re currently playing, and the time left to complete it. The timer on the touchscreen is not there for decoration. If time does indeed run out, it’s the end! You’ll then have to start over and try to not make the same mistake again.

As I’ve mentioned before, there are Secret levels are available on all levels (one secret level per regular level… level). They’re harder than the main ones and, by the time you get to the last 3 secret levels, you better know how the game works or you’ll be replaying them over and over and over again. Be on the lookout for the special doors. An extra Water Sprite awaits at the end! And these secret levels bring with them a special surprise: they’re based on how the “display and sound technology” behind two of Nintendo’s handhelds from christmas past! If you find a G-land door, you’re magically transported to a Game Boy inspired level, with Game Boy style colors, graphics and sounds to round up the experience. Should you find a V-land door, you’ll be taken down memory lane to simpler times, when the Virtual Boy was born, providing us with visuals that make us realized that Nintendo better give us all of the Virtual Boy games ever released as content for the still young 3DS Virtual Console service.

Your main goal is to try and make it to the end of the level so you can collect the Water Sprite it holds, all in an effort to unlock new levels. Once you have enough Water Sprites to unlock a couple of them, you can actually play them in any order you want. You could be in a level from the first set one moment, and then jump into a lava filled level a couple of minutes later. Or maybe you’re really want to finish all ice themed levels before going back to the rest? Well, you can do it!

I want to take a moment to remind you about an ever-present element in the best 2D games. I am, of course, talking about spikes. Spikes are always bad news. The ones in fun-fun games have the ability to insta-kill you (as it should be). You’re basically dead as soon as you look at them funny. This is true for such amazing games as Mega Man, and Mutant Mudds is now part of this beautiful tradition.

The game provides us with an even better experience thanks to the awesome soundtrack that plays as you jump, shoot, hover, eradicate, collect, sit perfectly still, and shuffle. You can actually get the soundtrack over at this bandcamp link, so be sure to pay for it. The Chiptunes demand you to do so!

The Golden Diamonds that you find on each level are used at Grannie’s Attic (which you can access from the main hub) to buy power-ups for your water gun, your hover pack and your jumping skills. You need said power ups in order to access every single secret level, as well as to make it easier to finish each main level. Purchases are made by a “cross the threshold” system. You only need to collect 1,600 in total to unlock all 3 power ups, and since there are 100 Golden Diamonds per level, and 20 levels in all, 2,000 possible Golden Diamonds await, allowing you to miss a few here and there. Also, you need to know that you can only equip one power up at a time. If you’re finding that a level is particularly hard, switching power ups might make it easier!

Before wrapping this up, I do have only two small complaints about the game. Nothing too bad, and definitely not a deal breaker, but I do like to nitpick now and then:

a) The “flash of invincibility” after being hit is crazy short, and if you don’t move, or if you’ve been hit by a huge enemy, you run the risk of getting hit a second time right after.

b) Not having all power-ups available at all times after you “purchase” them with golden diamonds means you have to go back to grannie’s to change gear. Having them mapped to the L and R triggers would have cut down 20-30 minutes of back and forth.

Mutant Mudds is a 12 bit game (not quite 8 bit, but not quite 16 bit) for the 21st century, packed with nostalgia and flair, with a side of old school sound effects, and a chiptune soundtrack that kicks all kinds of derriere, which are a very nice combo. All 3DS owners need to add this to their collection RIGHT NOW, especially since I want a sequel to be approved ASAP so I can be playing it before the year is over.

REVIEW NOTES

A copy of this game was provided by Renegade Kid for this review.

Game was completed and all Golden Diamonds and Water Sprites were collected before writing this review.

Total amount of time played: 5 hours (EXACTLY 5 hours, according to my 3DS)

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