Adventures of Chris

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1

.

Review:

Adventures of Chris is a Platformer released on PC and Nintendo Switch in 2020. This game stars an overweight kid who is summoned to a vampire child’s birthday party to be turned into a balloon, and after meeting the residents of the balloon kingdom, pledges to save the other kidnapped and transformed children.

With a story like that, it’s probably no surprise that Adventures of Chris is a pretty whimsical game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The entire game is filled with humor, as pretty much everyone is dismissive of Chris, from the enemies he fights, to the various masters he seeks out to learn magical spells and abilities. Pretty much everyone takes one look at this kid and says “pff, no” and Chris understands why all too well – he looks nothing like what one might expect a “legendary hero” to look like.

The art style for this game features hand-drawn cartoony characters, and while I don’t like the character designs here, I have to admit that the animation is excellent, the world is colorful and filled with variety, and the unimpressive art style actually works pretty well for the game’s themes of an unassuming hero on a silly quest.

These visuals are backed by a decent but forgettable soundtrack with orchestral and rock melodies that seem a bit artificial, clearly produced in editing software rather than by real instruments. Again, it’s fine, but it does feel a bit lacking.

However, while the presentation is kinda’ a mix of highs and lows, the gameplay here is fantastic. Chris’s balloon-like abilities really add a new dimension to the game’s levels, as at any time players can inflate Chris, essentially turning the physics of the level upside-down for him, albeit not in the “reverse gravity” way we’ve seen done in other games. This can make for some clever level design challenges, and the game builds on this with the various abilities Chris gains as the game progresses

That leads to the other clever element this game adds, which is that players are able to tackle the game’s various levels in any order, and in true Mega Man-style, each offers a new ability to be gained. And while I never felt like there was an order these levels should ideally be taken in like in those games (though you are highly recommended to do the Mexico level first when given the option), it was still nice to have my abilities gradually grow in an organic way as I progressed. Plus, at least some of these new abilities tie back into the game’s whimsical nature – for example, Chris doesn’t gain a butt stomp, he gets a bellyflop bounce.

In terms of complaints, what I have to say are mostly small nitpicks. The game overall feels a bit loose in terms of controls and hit detection. Also, I feel like the gaining of cookies (this game’s version of coins or rings) is a bit slow compared to the cost of purchasable upgrades to use them on.

But in the end, much like its unassuming hero, Adventures of Chris manages to defy expectations. It doesn’t look like much, but this is a surprisingly clever, witty, and fun Platformer with some unique mechanics and a great sense of humor. As long as you can get past its less than impressive presentation, you’ll find Adventures of Chris to be a fantastic Platformer well worth adding to your Nintendo Switch collection.

tl;dr – Adventures of Chris is a Platformer about a dumpy kid turned into a balloon by a vampire and ultimately using this ability to become a hero. It’s a whimsical game that uses its balloon-like mechanics to make for some clever level design, as well as Mega Man-esque game progression that makes for an overall fun experience. It may not look like much, but if you can get past the lacking presentation, Adventures of Chris is a unique delight of a Platformer.

Grade: B+

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