Crazy Chicken Pirates 3D is an arcade style shooter developed by Phenomedia and published by Teyon. The game released on 3DS September 27th, 2012 and is currently available on several other platforms including DSi and mobile devices. It consists of one level and has extremely dated controls for a 3DS game, making feel awkward and unpleasant to use.
One Level for €2?
The under €3 section of online distribution services can be very hit and miss. There is certainly a fair amount of mediocre at best titles found there, but occasionally you might just come across a small gem. With literally €3 left on my Nintendo e-Shop account, I decided to take a gamble. I bought two games in total for my €3, one of them being Crazy Chicken Pirates 3D. “How bad can it be?” I thought as I pressed the purchase button with my stylus.
The gameplay of Crazy Chicken Pirates 3D consists of playing one level repeatedly. Players must achieve as high a score as possible with a one and a half minute timer. They build up points by shooting pirate chickens, skull symbols, gems, coins, shark fins, barrels, bottles, chicken UFOs, submarine scopes and chickens in rowing boats.
The single level has a total of eleven skulls, fourteen coins, and fifteen gems. If the player can find and shoot the total of any of the three different items, they gain additional time. Once the timer runs out, their score is then entered onto the leaderboard. From here the only gameplay that remains for the player is repeating the level over and over again attempting to beat their previous high score.
The game does require the player to use some tactics to optimize their score, as each shootable object has a set amount of points that it gives. Reloading also reduces the player’s score each time, encouraging them to aim carefully before shooting.
A game that costs only €2 cannot be expected to give the player a ton of different levels and gameplay features, but a single constant level is indeed biting the biscuit. There are a lot of free games out there in this style which have more gameplay and replayability than Crazy Chicken Pirates 3D has. One example would be the flash game series Armor Trigger which gives players various different levels and tasks.
Awkward and Unpleasant to Use Controls
The controls for Crazy Chicken Pirates 3D baffle me. At first, the player would assume that they would use the analog control to move and aim while using the right or left corner buttons to shoot. Using the analog control indeed works, but players cannot aim across the entire map using these controls.
The player aims using the stylus on the bottom screen. The analog control or the action keys move the camera and the corner buttons shoot. This control system is pointless considering just using the analog control to move and aim all at once would be ideal.
There are no instructions to indicate that the player must use the stylus to play properly.
Keep your money!
Not everything about Crazy Chicken Pirates 3D is bad. It is visually appealing with excellent cartoonish graphics and animation. Players would find the game best to play when they have a few minutes to kill. Those two positive points alone, however, are not enough to stop the player having buyer’s remorse.
The gameplay has no replayability, and the controls are awkward and more complicated than needed. The game just doesn’t excite nor is it fun to play. A single level game such as this would certainly have got a lot more mercy in the 80s and possibly even in the early 90s.
In today’s age of gaming, free titles are offering in-depth and great gameplay. Having just one level and charging for it, is just not acceptable in today’s industry. It matters not how low the price of the game is.
The only thing that is stopping this game from scoring lower is the graphics, animations and the fact that it is functional. Stay clear of this one and save your €2 or $2 for a game that can, at least, provide some form of entertainment.
Crazy Chicken Pirates 3D is available to buy on the Nintendo e-Shop for €2/$2. It is also available on the mobile device stores and DSi Ware for the DSi.
Image Sources: Zelda Informer and Teyon
