Chompy Chomp Chomp Review (PC)

fair
key review info
  • Game: Chompy Chomp Chomp
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: Yes  
  • Reviewed on:
Chompy Chomp Chomp

Chompy Chomp Chomp is a very simple game that harkens back to the roots of what it meant to play on consoles before the dawn of graphics-driven titles that cost millions to make.

Back then, you were content to shoot some ducks with your dorky plastic gun and to assists an immigrant plumber in his mission to rescue a princess from a turtle demon.

Chompy Chomp Chomp proposes that you chase and eat your friends for points, a recipe that dates back to a time where you used to strategically place bombs in a labyrinthine level in order to do pretty much the same thing, get the most points, with pretty much the same effect, a lot of impromptu fun.

The game has no depth, no social commentary, no artistic vision to feed your soul with, its only purpose being to bring people together and make them feel like giddy little children again.

The mechanics are very simple, as the design here is to make it accessible to as wide an audience as possible, transcending age or experience barriers and offering a somewhat level playing field.

You are a vividly colored blob and you're going to have a colored circle under your feet. Locate the appropriately colored blob on the screen and go eat him. At the same time, look for the blob that has a circle in your color on the screen, as it too will attempt to make you fit in his tummy.

You gain points for chomping and lose them for being chomped and, every once in a while, the circles change color and you must adapt accordingly.

There are also a ton of power-ups to make use of during the game, including point-boosting fruits – we all know they're healthy – frozen puddles, balloons, speed boosts, and many others, each of them having an on/off switch that can be configured before the match starts.

The pre-match menu also features controls to set the total duration, whether or not you become invincible for a short while after a respawn, or how often should power-ups pop-up.

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This is the Pac-Man ghost academy
Get into mah belly!
There are four blobs and every one of them is pretty hungry; if there’s a shortage of players, a computer-controlled bot can take their place in order to increase the chaos on the screen.

The game also has a ton of levels to choose from, complete with a couple of classic ones that pay homage to the games that inspired it, offering a broad choice of gameplay-altering possibilities.

Chompy offers two main game modes, the aforementioned battle one and a single-player one that works like a time challenge where you have to eat small fuzzballs, called Blobbidees, while avoiding the Queen Blobbidee, intent on protecting her offspring.

You have to constantly switch the color of the circle beneath you in order to be able to eat the furry creatures, and some nimble fingers are required in order to succeed navigating the levels in a timely manner.

The game seems to sport some suspiciously long loading times, considering it's just a single-screen big.

The visuals are pretty simple and colorful and the playing field gets a bit cluttered with the remains of the chomped blobs and the power-ups, but the different mazes add a touch of variety to the experience.

The single-player mode isn't really much, just a repetitive grind where you gradually improve your knowledge of the levels until you can complete more of them.

Multiplayer, on the other, hand is what the game is really about, being able to deliver some shallow, good spirited fun when you have some friends and extra controllers around. Perfect for a party, with quick matches and bots being able to take over for missing players.


The Good

  • Lighthearted fun
  • Crazy local multiplayer action
  • Colorful
  • Kids-friendly
  • Easy to play

The Bad

  • Only works in multiplayer
  • Lacks game mode variety
  • Shallow mechanics

Conclusion

Chompy Chomp Chomp seems like it wants to revive the classic gameplay of Pac-Man, offering you the chance to play as the ghosts, like a ghost boot camp of sorts, and mix it with the unbridled fun of local multiplayer arcade action.

Although the game is very shallow – you simply walk around the maze trying to eat and not get eaten –, it can be the source of some genuine lighthearted excitement in the right context.

It's simple, suitable for all ages, and fun for a short while among a group of friends who are not looking for anything deeper and enjoy its childish, colorful demeanor.

It could do with online multiplayer though, and perhaps more game modes than simply eating others for points. As it stands, it's bound to get old relatively quickly, even if the different architectures of the maps translate into a slightly different approach when playing.

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story 0
gameplay 7
concept 7
graphics 7
audio 6
multiplayer 8
final rating 6.5
Editor's review
fair