There are a whole range of games that pop up on the Xbox Store. We’ve got the AAA blockbusters that cost millions to make and earn billions in return. There are those that sit just below that, kicking around the AA range, capable of providing gamers with some stunning experiences. Then there are the indie games, and lower than that, those from the smallest of developers; one person creators who are just intent on trying their damnedest to showcase their skills.
But there’s another sub-section of games below that still – those super cheap, half hour affairs that are forgotten as soon as the final ping of the Xbox achievements sounds, uninstalled as the 1000 Gamerscore hits.
That’s where Caterpillar sits.
Caterpillar isn’t a game that you’re going to be playing for weeks on end. It’s not even a game to last you a day. This is an hour-long shot at Xbox achievement and Gamerscore gathering, throwing 100G out there every time you start its initial ten levels – yep, you don’t even need to finish the level to be rewarded. And from there, the following thirty will hardly get a look in, as interest wanes and boredom increases.
It comes on the back of other games from Grinrobot; games of a similar ilk – Butterfly, Butterfly 2, Synchro Hedgehogs and 2 Synchro Hedgehogs. It’s obviously a route that the developer wants to continue down as each of those games could have been seen as nothing but a Gamerscore fanatics dream, ensuring that your Xbox notification system would ping away faster than you could ever imagine. For some that makes a perfect game, as they see their stats rise.
For others, for those looking for a game that is capable of providing some kind of fun, those games falter. It’s exactly what happens to Caterpillar.
The simplest of platformers, your task in Caterpillar is to navigate the titular character around a series of levels – forty in all – eating the flowers which are scattered around each stage. Gobble them down and an end of stage door will open, allowing Caterpillar to be able to crawl to victory. Or at least the next level where he’ll be tasked with doing it all over again.
Simple eh? Well yes, but it does get a little tricky as Caterpillar can’t jump – that would just be silly. Instead he crawls about the place, wandering platforms, falling onto others below his placement. With the ability to crawl up vertical walls, it’ll be your task to safely navigate Caterpillar through the stage.
Munching on those plants is your sole goal, but in your way are a variety of obstacles and enemies. Bees are dragged in from those other games – Butterfly and Synchro Hedgehogs – to once again prove to be the sting in the tail, but if you bottom bounce them, will find that they can fling you to higher platforms, keeping Caterpillar safe from harm.
It’s those bees – we think they look more like wasps, but the game calls them bees so who are we to argue? – that can help you fling Caterpillar across chasms, over water obstacles (Caterpillar can’t swim) and ultimately ensure that those flowers are gathered up.
Mostly, if you’ve played Butterfly or Synchro Hedgehogs, then you’ll know exactly what you’re getting here in Caterpillar, with just a change of lead character and some slightly revamped visuals the only real amendments to the basic formula.
But there is the addition of some purple light lines that magically and mysteriously teleport Caterpillar from here to there, and so these will need to be taken into account too. Oh, and whilst red plants are this hungry hungry caterpillar’s favourite food, it seems they’ve got a liking for the blue-green variety too. Algae makes caterpillars be hit with a burst of speed, ensuring they can make safe otherwise large gaps. There are also some weird Sandworms that crop up, only to be taken down by a collectible ‘shovel of doom’.
Aside from the very occasional addition like some disappearing blocks, the forty levels of Caterpillar hardly change during a playthrough. There are the odd levels that will require you to stop, consider and evaluate options, but mostly you can drop into a stage and immediately see the pathway required. In fact, we’d suspect that you’ll not send your little Caterpillar mate to their death at all in the first ten levels, and only occasionally in the next thirty. If you do mess up, a swift hit of Y will have you restarting before you know it.
That’s if you even bother playing the next thirty. If you do, we’d hazard a guess that you’ll do so with the game on mute because the soundtrack that plays really starts to grate.
Much like any super cheap Xbox game that comes with easy to obtain achievements and Gamerscore, there’s only really one cohort of gamers Caterpillar is aimed at – those looking to give their Xbox Gamerscore figures a quick boost. In that regard, Caterpillar does the job, but if you’re not interested in virtual bragging rights then there’s not a chance you’ll find this Caterpillar having the legs to keep the interest flowing.Â
Caterpillar is on the Xbox Store
