Ultimate Chicken Horse

Genre: Platformer / Party Game

Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local, local alternating, Online), Online Leaderboards, Online Content Sharing

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Review:

Ultimate Chicken Horse is a Platformer that plays like the devious weird cousin to the Mario Maker series, with players building the levels as they play them, with the goal being making a puzzle that you can complete with your selected animal character, but that the other players can’t.

It’s a clever idea in theory, and in practice it makes for some delightful chaos, with players scrambling to be the first to snatch up their favorite parts as they become available, the wondering “okay, now what does this part do?” that comes with a new piece being available, the jockeying of players to place their piece in juuuuuust the right spot to screw over everyone else but still leave themselves a path they think they can take to victory, the inevitable discovery of “oops, I made it too hard” and scrambling for the explosives to clear away problematic pieces… there’s a lot of silliness here, but surprisingly a fair amount of strategy too. It’s kinda’ the perfect combination of randomness and planning that most party games wish they could achieve.

Despite players building all manner of vicious deathtraps, the violence here is all bloodless and family-friendly, and the simple, cartoony presentation is welcoming even if it isn’t impressive. This is just as well – it keeps the focus on the chaotic gameplay and piece placement.

However, all of this is just scratching the surface of the game, because where Ultimate Chicken Horse truly shines is in its absolute wealth of content. In addition to the normal competitive mode (both local and online), there’s a “Couch” mode that allows players to take alternating turns with a single controller, a huge number of various gameplay conditions that can be messed around with, and a full-fledged level creator.

While not quite as robust as the level builder in the Mario Maker games, Ultimate Chicken Horse’s level builder is still quite impressive, giving players a good variety of different components to build levels with, allowing them to swap out backgrounds or change colors, or determine the type of level it’s going to be, including the usual Party Mode competitive levels as well as a Challenge Mode where creators design an obstacle course that others compete to complete the fastest. These levels are all shareable using a searchable online database with user ratings. In short, there is a potentially limitless amount of content here to enjoy.

As far as shortcomings, the core Platformer gameplay here just isn’t on par with Mario, and many of this game’s options and parts are not very well-explained. And as mentioned before, the graphics aren’t all that impressive compared to something like Super Mario Maker 2.

Okay, look, I know I keep comparing this game to the Super Mario Maker series, and I feel that’s kinda’ inevitable, as both games inhabit a similar space involving a 2D Platformer where much of the appeal comes from its creation tool set, and in many ways it’s an impossible task to compete against the likes of Mario. But despite that in many ways Ultimate Chicken Horse inevitably falls short when compared to the plumber, there is one area where this game absolutely soars above Mario – multiplayer.

Where Super Mario Maker 2’s multiplayer is a mess of frustrating online connectivity and lacking options, Ultimate Chicken Horse is an abundance of riches on top of a hilarious game structure perfectly suited to parties. Taking the Mario Maker formula and turning it into a competition both for building and Platforming gameplay is genius, and that genius is supported by tons of content. If you like the idea of Super Mario Maker but wanted something with a stronger multiplayer focus, Ultimate Chicken Horse is a must-have for you.

tl;dr – Ultimate Chicken Horse is a family-friendly Platformer with a robust creation tool set and a focus on multiplayer gameplay that challenges players to create levels that they can beat but the other players can’t. It’s a tremendously good time, and while the presentation and core gameplay aren’t on par with Super Mario Maker 2, the multiplayer in this game is clearly superior, making this a fantastic party game. If you’re looking for a good supplement to Mario Maker or a fun game to bring out at a party, Ultimate Chicken Horse is a must-have.

Grade: A-

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