There’s a vibe for “Nyan Cat Adventure” that reminds me a bit of “Air Zonk” on the TurboGrafx-16. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, beyond some musical similarities. There’s something else, though, I think.
Anyway, 2011 release “Nyan Cat Adventure” looks like a side-scrolling shooter, but there’s no shooting here. In truth, it’s a racing/platformer that is as psychedelic as a Jeff Minter game, as twitchy as a forced runner, and has more toasters than ’80s game show “Test Pattern”.
The toasters are an interesting feature. Once you land in one, you want to aim it at the next one so that when you’re shot out you land in toaster after toaster, zooming you across the screen more quickly and more safely. Timing is everything here as some of them move up and down or across, and you don’t want to wait so long that you end up too close to the left edge of the screen.
And that’s ultimately what makes it a neat game, by blending elements of platformers, forced runners, puzzlers, and more, it’s greater than the sum of its parts. $2.99 for a finely crafted game that makes you think of what a modern day Jeff Minter platformer/forced runner might look like.
Here’s what the publisher (21 Street Games LLC) has to say about the game:
“In the year 20XX… NYAN CAT GOES ADVENTURE! Single-button arcade action meets the Internet’s greatest Cat Meme, Nyan Cat! Super simple to pick up and play, starring all your favorite Nyan characters. 5 game modes jam packed with all the insanity you’d expect from the developers behind Techno Kitten Adventure! Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya :)”
Writings of Mass Deduction 