Bouncy Chicken is sort of like Pong meets Billiards only with low production values and frustrating, not-that-much-fun gameplay.
The goal is to shoot a chicken on a non-scrolling single screen stage to bump into all the pieces of corn on the board. The chicken can ricochet off walls and moving objects, essentially making the chicken a cue ball in a game of pool. However, the player might only have three shots to grab four pieces of corn. So aiming strategically is critical to clearing most boards. That, and having a little luck isn’t going to hurt.
Even though there are nearly 100 stages, they all play and look the same. Each musical track also awkwardly transitions from one tune to the next, lacking cohesion and polish. The low-budget visuals make it look like an early mobile game ported to console. There is also a lack of a one-button restart option too. There will be plenty of times when you’ll have a shot or two but know there is no way to snag the remaining pieces. It is better to quit and retry but there isn’t a convenient way to throw in the towel and restart.
Even with a budget five-dollar price point, Bouncy Chicken always feels like busy work. All the Achievements are tied to clearing the levels too. Normally I would recommend these low cost EastAsiaSoft titles for their easy Achievements alone but not with Bouncy Chicken. Tediously grinding through dozens of stages, which could be a painful few hours, to unlock all the stages undoubtedly takes dedication.
SCORE: 4/10
Not As Good As: other low cost EastAsiaSoft titles
Better Than: managing your own chicken coop and corn stock
Wait For It: more EastAsiaSoft titles to be released throughout the rest of 2024
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
Please consider supporting me on Patreon or BuyMeACoffee.
