Crayon Shinchan The Storm Called Flaming Kasukabe Runner!!

Genre: Auto-Runner

Players: 1

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Review:

Crayon Shinchan is a crudely-drawn anime and manga character that’s been around since the early 1990s, and has starred in numerous videogames over the years, although these games have mostly only been released in Japan, with a select few releasing in scattered European countries. I don’t follow this character closely, but this game, Crayon Shinchan The Storm Called Flaming Kasukabe Runner!! (from this point referred to simply as Kasukabe Runner), may be the first time in nearly 30 years that one of this character’s games has come to America, in the form of an Auto-Runner game released on the Nintendo Switch in 2020.

Not being a fan of the franchise, I’m guessing that the presentation here is faithful to its source material, because that’s just about the only thing that can explain it. The hand-drawn artwork is atrocious and nonsensical, but I suppose at least it’s colorful. However, the game’s music is an absolute assault on the human ear, and if this game is played at all, I highly recommend it be played on mute.

As for the gameplay… well, this is an Auto-Runner, all right. It doesn’t do anything outright terrible for the genre, but it certainly doesn’t do anything to revolutionize it. Collect sweets, avoid enemies and hazards… I don’t know that there’s much to say here.

Actually, there is one thing I can say here. Seriously, they’re charging $10 for this game? Seriously?

I suppose if you’re a fan of this franchise, you may like Kasukabe Runner – it’s simple and unambitious and as such doesn’t take any risks that could fail spectacularly. But even if you’re a series fan, the horrible music and ridiculous price tag should give you pause. For anyone who is not a Crayon Shinchan fan, avoid this game like the plague.

tl;dr – Crayon Shinchan The Storm Called Flaming Kasukabe Runner!! is a pretty straightforward Auto-Runner with a terrible presentation, an ear-wrenching soundtrack, and a price tag that’s way too high for what’s on offer here. Fans of the franchise may like it, but everyone else should stay far, far away.

Grade: D

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