Summer Catchers [Switch]
Developed by FaceIT and published by Noodlecake Studios, Summer Catchers is a unique blend of racing, story, rhythm and puzzle based games that really took us by surprise. You play as Chu, a young girl desperate to experience summer. After meeting a friendly wolf who gives you a vehicle, you’ll drive Chu’s little wooden car to the ends of the earth to finally escape the cold, and find some glorious summer weather. Driving through the snowy forests, you’ll come across various obstacles that you must use Tools to avoid or defend against. There are icy spikes to jump over, totem poles to crash through and various enemies to race away from.
You’ll spend time along your journey in different areas of the world completing tasks for characters you meet, ranging from berry picking to tree chopping. These will often take a few attempts to complete in your vehicle, as the random nature of the game and the hazards you’ll come across will often cause you to take too much damage, and have to return to repair your vehicle. This, along with the lack of variety of what you have to do for the tasks themselves, can leave things feeling a tad repetitive at times. The ability to control your vehicle fully would have been good, as relying on items appearing when needed, rather than just being tied to particular controls, takes away from the game somewhat - the requirement of purchasing items would still be there, so if you don’t have enough of what you need, you still have that challenge.
The pixel aesthetic is gorgeous here, with each area of the world having its own unique look. The forest has lots of muted blues and purples that lends an ethereal vibe, moving on to add more of a pinky hue and then there’s a desert with a clear blue skies and golden sands. There’s a great use of weather effects, with a booming drum that causes lightning strikes and sudden downpours that look and feel fantastic - that properly big, wet rain you get on a stormy day - causing additional mushrooms to grow, for you to collect. During loading screens you’ll notice tips appear at the bottom of the screen, and it’s wise to pay attention to these as they’ll give more context towards what certain items do (as nothing is really explained otherwise). The soundtrack is really good, with a mix of synth tracks that are super catchy, whether they be fast-paced or relaxed.
There are little blue glowing mushrooms throughout your journey, and these can be spent at the Shop on additional equipment and cosmetic items. The Shop is broken down into three sections; Tools, such as Bumpers, Jumpers and Boosters that can be used to deal with hazards whilst driving; Gear, which allows you to buy different vehicles (although the differences are purely cosmetic); as well as Look, giving you a new style. Again, these new looks offer only cosmetic changes, and make no impact on gameplay, but it does give you something extra to spend your mushrooms on - and some of the costumes are pretty nice.
Summer Catchers is really fun and enjoyable to play, although it does suffer from the occasional issue where it doesn’t respond to a button press (not great when you’re trying to avoid death!) as well as it frequently causing you to be a victim to the RNG gods. Gear you’ve purchased is usable throughout levels, through pressing the relevant button for the item you wish to use. The items will show on the right of the screen, with three available at any one time, and being replaced when used by another Gear item at random. This can cause a lot of problems and unnecessary deaths, due to it simply not allowing you to trigger the item you need (even if you know you have some available) when you need it. You can switch items out on a cool-down, but this is also at random, so if you switch it out and don’t get what you’re looking for, you might not have time to try again before you end up in a pickle.
As you drive along, you can spot strange creatures in the background, as well as a massive eye that opens up on a mountain in the distance. There’s a ‘sparkling spirit’ you’ll come across on your travels too, in the shape of a mysterious, glittery deer - and this adds to the wonder of the world. You can purchase and send postcards to other characters, find pets to tame (enabling access to their abilities) and even bring in a friend for co-op play. There’s also an achievement list, which is something we always love to see on Switch titles, as it gives you further incentive to keep going back for more to nab anything you’ve missed (which is easily done here as there seems to be no way to return to any earlier areas). For those who love an in-game Camera Mode, you’ve got plenty of capabilities here too, with adjustable colour themes and plenty of gorgeous scenery to snapshot. Available for £8.99 on the Switch eShop, but £4.49 on sale until the 3rd September, it’s a fair price for what it includes; and whilst the randomised nature can often lead to frustration, there’s enough enjoyment elsewhere to negate it. There’s lots of mystery to Summer Catchers, that really grips you as you play - especially considering the simple premise of the gameplay, and for that we’d definitely recommend you give it a go - particularly whilst it is on sale!
In the end, we decided to give Summer Catchers the Collecting Asylum rating of 7.5/10.
Have you played Summer Catchers yet? What did you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Noodlecake Studios for the Summer Catchers Switch review code!
