A Pretty Odd Bunny puts you in control of a rather odd bunny, surprise surprise. This bunny has glowing red eyes and a hunger for pig flesh, which I would say meets the qualifications of being considered odd. Oh yeah, this rabbit also happens to be allergic to carrots.
Due to his quirks, this bunny is not a very popular one in the bunny community, nor in the pig community for that matter. So your job is to take control and use basic platforming skills to navigate through each level until you find the delicious pig lying in wait at the end. A Pretty Odd Bunny is a linear game that slowly introduces new mechanics as you progress. There are also bacon coins that are scattered throughout the levels that will unlock bonus levels if you collect all of the coins in an area.
The nice thing about the coins is that they stay acquired even if you die, however, there is a rather minimal payoff for collecting all of them so you may find you’ll never really go out of your way to get them.
The platforming itself is very simple and there are some clever little mechanics introduced as you play through the game. New enemies, traps, and even disguises are all things that come up while playing.
Most of the traps come in the form of carrots, which will instantly cause you to break out in a terrible case of chickenpox. Or is it rabbit pox? Some enemies in later levels use the carrots as part of their weapons and many of the levels have carrot patches spread throughout them. There are also plenty of rabbits to avoid in the earlier levels, as well as angry pigs and other animals that seem to have it out for a bunny whose only crime is wanting something tasty to eat.
The best aspect about A Pretty Odd Bunny is its storytelling and humor. It’s nothing over the top but it’s fun and unique, and I wanted to see where things went. There are little characters that you walk past as you play and they will make comments about what’s going on; it creates some basic world building. Some even react to what you do. What sets A Pretty Odd Bunny apart from other indie games that are similar is that it relies more on visual storytelling than text, which so many games do poorly.
I wish I could sing the same praises for the gameplay itself. Now, before I get too far into things, it’s not a bad experience and it is definitely a playable game that can suck you in. However, there is quite a bit of refining and polishing that A Pretty Odd Bunny would benefit from. Specifically, the hitboxes for the environment, traps, enemies, and the bunny. There are multiple spots where walls and platforms exist but there are no visuals associated with them. It isn’t terribly uncommon to find yourself floating on nothing.
What really bothered me are the issues surrounding hitboxes for carrots, traps, and enemies. The carrots are a one hit kill as soon as you touch one, and the margin for error on them seems very inconsistent. When jumping over large rows, it is best to err on the side of caution but that becomes much harder during chase sequences or the more hectic platforming sections. It is more of an annoyance than anything, but it is definitely frustrating on some of the longer levels.
A Pretty Odd Bunny also loses a lot of points when it comes to the last group of levels. The first area you are in is bunny town, while the last area is bunny town – just at night. This could’ve been a nice way to tie everything back together, but the last levels are essentially the first area’s levels but with a new background and a few added traps and enemies. This means that to beat the game, you’re basically required to replay the same levels. The solutions to each level aren’t any different either; in fact, they seem easier since you’ve just played through much harder ones.
To add insult to injury, one level comes with a glitch that makes it almost impossible to clear. In it, I had to push a box that was stacked on top of another box so it would fall on top of a patch of carrots so I could get to the pig. However, each time I pushed it, it would cause the bottom box to teleport to the side, making it impossible to push off the edge. Thankfully, there are other boxes available that are able to be used to keep it in place, but it’s a needless frustration.
There are a lot of little quirks like that throughout the game, but even with those A Pretty Odd Bunny still comes across as pretty decent. If you like cutesy mixed with mild gore, then A Pretty Odd Bunny is certainly one to try out, but keep in mind that you will have to contend with a few bugs as you play. Granted they are nothing major, but they definitely could be improved upon.
A Pretty Odd Bunny is available from the Xbox Store
great game