Boop Boop Bap! Bring in the Techno! Up and coming RichGameMake has added another title to their small yet interesting collection. If you like awesome, only-beat-once kind of games Pineapple Smash Crew will definitely keep you in the zone for a while. PSC is an over-the-top-shooter on Steam which puts you in the cube shaped pants of space marines sent into the heart of battle to accomplish missions. This game may sound like an ordinary every day sort but there are a few details to this game that makes it different and a lot more fun.
The gameplay is pretty darn exciting for a while but it starts to dwindle down at the end. As you control 4 mercenaries simultaneously through randomly generated stages you move from room to room kind of like a reenactment of “Smash TV” killing monsters and blowing things up. On the floor are boxes and machines that you can blow up to get points or to destroy your surroundings. You will find in each room explosives, boosts, etc in which you equip only one to each mercenaries.
One of the explosives that you will receive when playing are the trusty ole grenades. The way that they have set up the use of grenades is very simple and fun. The player aims and right clicks to were you want to throw the grenade. Once the grenade is deployed it will bounce in the direction until the player right clicks again. If you do not click to make the grenade explode you have about five seconds until it blows up by itself. There are additional types of grenades that can shoot through walls, shield you, or even heal you. This game is a bit tactile with the fact that you have to play very carefully most of the time. Most of the monsters usually take a while to destroy so you must conserve ammo.
The characters and monsters in the game are designed in a manner that will remind you of the “dawn of 3D pixelation”. The marines are drawn in a bulky box design that gives the game a bit of a childish look. When it comes down to the character design, the marines in Pineapple Smash Crew are pretty freaking adorable.. Just saying, the way that they’re boxy legs look as you run around the map is kidnappable. The monsters on the other hand look very familiar with not much effort put into them from the grub looking creatures down to the robot rovers. Even though the artwork isn’t too creative, they still give you a difficult time if not handled correctly.
Like buttons on a controller, games need stages and maps. All of the maps in Pineapple Smash Crew are randomly generated with each play which would lead you to believe that the game should never get too repetitive but, it does. The layout of the maps over time all start to blend together sometime feeling like everything is happening all in the same place which will eventually take its toll on your gameplay experience.
RichGameMake did an amazing job with their music choices for this game. All of the background music is a kind of dub step video game havoc that really makes you just want to buy the soundtrack. Through out the game the music alone will keep you entertained. The controls of PSC are very simple like any other game of this genre, with the exception of changing between characters. ‘A’ ‘S’ ‘D’ ‘E’ are for your movements, the mouse is to aim and ‘W’ ‘R’ are reserved for switching between characters.
Pineapple Smash Crew was a fun game for the most part, with the upbeat music and cute mercs. Even though it was fun it did start to die down as I got towards finishing the game. The controls were simple enough so that anyone can hop on and stay interested for some time, and the music is so good I’d even consider buying the CD. The soundtrack is available for sale on Bandcamp. The thing about this game though is once you beat it your never going to have an urge to play it again. There’s really no point. This is a great game to kill time with, but past that I wouldn’t expect much.
