The 2D platformer has been a video game staple for decades, and remains popular to this very day. In fact it's been experiencing something of a renaissance lately, as mobile gaming boils the premise down to its most addictive, fast-paced essence for quickfire play sessions. Kid Tripp was one such hit that originally released on iOS platforms, and we quite enjoyed the 3DS port earlier this year. Next up on his world tour, the Kid has set his sights on the Switch, hoping that the third time around is a real charm.
Right off the bat, Four Horses has done a great job in porting the game over, as it still looks and runs great with crisp pixel art visuals and smooth performance. On both the big screen and in handheld mode there's a nice vibrancy to the colour, which makes a tangible difference from the 3DS version. Content-wise there isn't anything new added on to this release, which is definitely a shame, but as a budget title the price is still just about right for what's on offer here.
You play as the eponymous Kid Tripp himself in an endless-runner style adventure that takes place across 20 different levels and four worlds. In your journey to the mysterious right side of the screen, you'll be bounding across obstacles, pitfalls and enemies to reach the goal. There aren't any checkpoints or breaks along the way, as each level can technically be completed in less than a minute, but the challenging difficulty will make sure it takes you more than a few attempts to nail a perfect run and survive.
As you're constantly moving forward, your input is mostly reserved to timing your jumps correctly, but there's also the ability to speed up your Kid by holding forward on the D-Pad or control stick accordingly. This gives you a minor but noticeable speed boost, which is extremely useful in nailing some tricky sections later on. We found ourselves rocking the D-Pad back and forth in order to adapt our speed to fit certain situations, but there are actually a few different setups you can choose between for this feature.There's the default option which we just explained, but you can actually reverse this so your standard speed is a run instead, which you manually adjust to a walk when necessary. There's also a 'hardcore' option which removes running entirely, leaving you plodding along at a slow pace and forcing you to time your jumps with precision.
On top of this, you have the ability to throw stones, which is handy for clearing out enemies but becomes less useful as you progress, and those same enemies become crucial platforms. One of the limitations of the runner genre is that the levels are so short and tightly-designed that you really only have one or two different paths to choose from when it comes to reaching the end. Victory comes down to memorisation just as much as your reflexes, so you'll need to learn from your mistakes and follow the right steps. There's room for some improvisation, but if you don't keep the right enemies alive then expect your tripp to be cut short.
The game will start you off with ten lives, but for the casual player there really isn't any punishment to dying at all. Running out will result in a game over, but even if this happens you just start right back at the beginning of the level you were on and try again. For high-score chasers this is more of a big deal, as you'll lose all of the coins you've collected up to that point. These act as a kind of running point total, and managing to grab all of them in a level will earn you a gold medal as well. It's a thoughtful system, allowing casual players to practice levels at their own pace without punishment, while encouraging veterans to complete a run while dying as little as possible.
Between worlds there's zero fanfare and not a boss fight to be seen, so the meat of the game comes from the 20 levels in total. It really isn't a whole lot, but it also means that it's a fun little experience that doesn't outstay its welcome. We completed the entire game in under an hour, but still went back to improve on older levels and try to grab some extra achievements, like successfully making it back out of the water after falling in. There's a fair challenge throughout, never feeling too frustrating, but there isn't too much imagination in any of the world designs or enemy types either. Bats, snakes, ice world, fire world - it's all pretty standard.
For the price, it's hard to argue too much with this as a fun, budget title. It's fast, satisfying, and what it lacks in creativity it mostly makes up for in a fair challenge without any of the fuss. There isn't really even a story, other than the fact that Kid Tripp seems to have crashed his plane and annoyed some animals. With the port now making the jump to a home console - albeit a portable one - some of its limitations just become that little bit more apparent, and we were hoping for extra content like new worlds or game modes to help lure us back in. If you missed out on 3DS then this is fine, but it felt slightly incomplete even then, and that feeling is further amplified now on the big screen.
Conclusion
Kid Tripp is a polished, simple little platformer that will put your skills to the test from the very beginning. It's a no-frills experience that's light on ceremony, giving you 20 levels of rapid gameplay that's perfect for short sessions and high-score chasing, but falls a little flat in terms of creativity and content. While it's undoubtedly a fun ride while it lasts, the whole game can be beaten in under an hour, so don't expect much in the way of post-game content or extreme replayability, unless you really want to dig into the nitty gritty of mastering each level. That being said, it's a solid budget title and one well worth looking into if you want a delightfully punishing dose of retro gameplay. It's a Tripp worth taking.
Comments 21
Pass, too busy, too busy...
Ehhh, I'll maybe grab it when it's on offer some day but I'm in no rush to play this one. There are just too many good games to play at the minute.
Sounds like a fun game ... on a phone. But I expect more from a console. How does an hour long experience with limited control rate a seven? I wouldn’t even waste my Switch storage if it was free
Nice Offspring reference. Gonna give this game a miss though.
So 20 levels that you can beat in an hour for $3? Hmmmmm.......I dunno no.
Can you guys review 80's Overdrive?
Nice to see what the switch is capable of
Love platformers and my Switch is crying out for one but I'll be giving this one a miss. It looks too zoomed in to me, like the old Gameboy platformers were.
I must admit that I really like the little pixel art here. I wish it were actually a proper, fully fleshed-out platformer to be honest. It could have been a great Mario/Wonder Boy/Alex Kidd homage or something like that.
I love this game. I find it to be VERY challenging, getting like 10 game overs per level. To go back and get the gold medals, and even to make it through a run without a game over, will take me years of attempts. So for me the $ is worthwhile. The pixel art reminds me of Mario Land, especially the floating platforms made of tiny blocks.
@frogopus Not a huge fan of The Who, well compared to the other huge 60/70's bands anyway, but 'Who's Next' is a belter of an album,Iove it. Baba O'Riley is one of my all time favourite tracks too. It's also my ringtone. I challenge anyone to find a better ring tone than the opening of that classic.
Sounds reasonable for $4, considering it probably takes time to master each level.
I bought it when it came out and completed it in a week. It was a lot of fun while it lasted. I finished my fourth and final run in 8 minutes and 20 seconds with 12 deaths. I had hundreds of deaths on my first run. I played a demo years ago when @pixelman shared his progress on the forums. It's great to see someone from NL get their game on a console. I hope I can do that too someday.
I'm tired of crappy 8 bit retro indie games.
Looks fun and challenging enough I'd look at it someday, not now and maybe on sale but nice to have another solid 8 bit runner on the 'shop.
Had fun with this on my iPad back in the day.
The second game on the eShop under $5 that's actually worth getting (after Knight Terrors).
Was interested until I realize it was just an endless runner like Super Mario Run. Sorry but endless runner are not my cup of tea, if Kid Tripp wants my support he'll need to stop running and actually explore.
Very cool to have a Nintendolifian's work on a Nintendo console. It'd be even cooler if I could make it out the first level. My skills have deteriorated greatly since the iPad version.
It is actually not a bad game! I personally do not like auto-runner, but I did not mind this one on the Nintendo Switch especially for the price! I got to admit I did not even try the last 2 levels after seeing the videos on youtube as I do not have that type of patience. The music is good, but it is a very hard game especially the fourth and last world! It would have been a great addition to be able to turn off the auto runner and/or change the control settings. I would normally give it a 6 out of 10 considering it is very short and not that enjoyable, but I was pleasantly surprised and would give it a 7 out of 10 after all.
Update: I never quit a game because it is too hard and I decided to try again the following day in handheld mode during my lunch break and was able to pass the last 3 levels fairly easily... I don't know why, but it felt easier/better on the handheld mode. It took me 1 hour and 20 minutes to complete the game
@frogopus ah thank you! Never got into The Who and missed the reference. Must go educate myself.
I mean for 4 dollars I can't say much. But it's not really my cup of tea.
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