Squeakers II

Genre: Arcade / Platformer

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local), 2 Competitive (Local Split-Screen)

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Review:

Squeakers II, released on PC and Nintendo Switch in 2021, is an Arcade-style Platformer very much like its predecessor, where players take the role of anthropomorphized boars who find themselves scrambling to respond to a rising water level by building a structure using a machine that makes blocks for them. And I’ll be repeating a lot of what I said in my review of that game here, because the two games are very similar.

The presentation here is simple, but it works well enough for what the game is, featuring fairly simple pixel art visuals and a chiptune soundtrack. I will note that when your boar is struggling to swim and drowning, he’s not making any noise, which seems a bit odd given the severity of the situation.

As for the gameplay, this is a great premise for an Arcade-style Platformer with great Co-Op and Puzzle potential, but it feels like something is missing here. The issue is that building pieces need to be placed in a precise manner to be “seated”, and if they aren’t this makes it so other pieces can’t be seated on top of them, causing a ripple effect. This is made even more frustrating by the fact that various conditions can cause previously-seated pieces to become unseated, meaning all your hard work and preparation will have been for nothing.

To its credit, Squeakers II tries to make the rise in difficulty more gradual by giving players extra-useful pieces at the game’s start, but this doesn’t change the core issue I had with the game. I should also note that this is not just a copy-paste sequel – this game adds new piece types, as well as a new 2-player Split-Screen competitive mode, all while keeping the $3 price tag. As such, I’d say that overall Squeakers II is a better game than its predecessor, though it still has problems.

Overall, I think that Squeakers II still has a lot of potential as an Arcade-style Platformer, but it’s still kept from reaching that potential by its frustrating mechanics. While this sequel does add more to the game and features a more gradual rise in difficulty early on, this still isn’t quite as good a game as it could be.

tl;dr – Squeakers II, like its predecessor, is an Arcade-style Platformer that has players building up a structure to try and escape a rising water line. This sequel has a new 2-player competitive mode, more block types, and a more gradual difficulty curve, but it still suffers from the finicky block placement issue that marred the first game.

Grade: C

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