😼 Astro Aqua Kitty Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 "Mike, do you want to review Astro Aqua Kitty or Human Fall Flat?" "Oooh the cat one please!" 🙀 @TIKIPODltd #IndieGames #GameDev

Ever since Crash Bandicoot, I have had a rough relationship with games that look cute and friendly but are actually alarmingly difficult (cheers for the PTSD flashbacks Cuphead).

Astro Aqua Kitty is significantly less traumatising than those two but still offers a pretty hefty challenge and a surprisingly deep RPG system for a game about adorable cats in their adorable submarines.

The story is pretty bare-bones, you select your crew, each with various attributes that adjust your starting build, and from there traverse a network of underwater caves buried in several giant asteroids (hence Astro Aqua Kitty). The initial benefits you get from these crew members don't vary all that significantly and are quickly balanced out by your upgrades but the option sets up the game nicely.

Two weapons, a primary and a secondary, can be assigned at a time and vary nicely depending on your preferred play style with four device slots letting you further customise your ship. You can build yourself a glass cannon and wreak havoc at the expense of your defences or play a bit more cautiously. It can be useful to play around with the different options, particularly in some of the trickier sections. To the game's credit, the challenge is varied enough so that no one particular build will let you sail through and when you've made enough progress there is a lot of fun to be had tinkering as you climb up the levels and fill out your inventory.

The inventory screen, by the way, is hideous. Numbers, stats and percentages litter the screen. The information does get more and more relevant as you experiment with the gear you find but at the beginning, it's meaningless at best, and baffling at worst. It doesn't help that XP comes far too incrementally for a game like this, with levels gained coming very slowly. The game is fun and charming but doesn't have a hook strong enough to justify the kind of grind it demands from the off to get you to the higher levels.

Fortunately, the game is a lot of fun and just the right side of challenging. The levels follow a rather standard shoot 'em up template (clear this section, bring the thing here, open the door there) but there is enough variation, like escort missions or mini-bosses, to help quell the repetition. The end of level Bosses are the standout and where things get nice and chaotic. This is where experimenting with your build pays off and finding just the right weapon or device to give you the edge is very satisfying.

As a whole, (inventory screen aside) Astro Kitty is a great-looking game, adding modern flair to its retro aesthetic. The environments are rich and detailed and Tikipods use of lighting adds a really moody atmosphere to the deeper parts of the levels. The look is complemented by a really nice electric synth score that gives a pleasingly "spacey" feeling.

So it doesn't reinvent the wheel and is a bit of a mess, to begin with but Astro Aqua Kitty is a charming if frustrating, little shooter that's fun to spend time with.

Now I'm off to lie down as the effort of writing this without including any cat puns has left me light-headed.