Bomb Chicken Review

When I first heard about Bomb Chicken, I immediately thought of the iconic Bomberman series and wondered if the games would share a similar concept. Boy, was I wrong about that! Bomb Chicken is a game that offers significantly more substance than Bomberman, combining elements of puzzle, platformer, action, and adventure into a single, cohesive experience. You play a bomb-laying chicken looking to take revenge on BFC (a parody of KFC) after an accident with the evil fast food company’s blue hot sauce.

Gameplay

The game’s interesting premise leads to some fun challenges as you figure out how to use Bomb Chicken‘s bombs to your advantage. You can, of course, blow things up, but that’s only a tiny part of the strategy behind the game. Your character can use their unlimited bombs to defend themselves from enemy projectiles, get up to a higher ledge, kick them at enemies, travel across gaps, and even activate switches. It’s a game that requires you to think about your every move instead of just blasting your way through it, and I thoroughly enjoyed that puzzle aspect. Progression in the game is pretty simple. You travel from one area to another as you work through 3 worlds.

Puzzles

The puzzles become more complex as you go through the game, kicking and bouncing bombs to hit switches to open up new areas and destroy enemies and barricades. Some locked areas even require a key card or pressure-sensitive triggers to be activated by bombs. There are even some secret rooms full of hidden gems. As you progress through the game, using these bombs becomes easier, and you start to understand what you have to do in each situation much faster. That’s not to say that there aren’t still some challenging puzzles that will stump you.

Levels

Bomb Chicken is comprised of 29 levels that are made up of different obstacles and enemies that you’ll have to get by. Some of these obstacles include warp pipes, conveyor belts, spikes, conveyor belts, and meat pounders, to name just a few. Many levels even include branching pathways that must be completed in a specific order to beat the level. This never makes you feel like you’re backtracking too much, though. It never costs you more than a few minutes of game time, which is a welcome surprise compared to similar games.

Enemies/Bosses

The enemies you’ll face in the game range from BFC employees to local natives and wildlife like bats and other things of that nature. Plenty of enemies involve you taking different approaches to defeat them. For example, there’s a spear-wielding enemy that you can’t defeat by simply hitting him with a bomb. If you’re fast enough, you can bounce off enemies’ heads like that to take them out. All enemies have different patterns, and the game never feels like it’s becoming too dull or monotonous. There’s always a new challenge around the corner. Even boss encounters require you to use your bombs in different ways. If you take too much damage during a boss battle, it’s game over. Luckily, the checkpoint system is forgiving, and you won’t be sent back too far. You can also upgrade your life points periodically if you collect enough gems.

Presentation

As far as the presentation is concerned, Bomb Chicken has a distinctly retro feel, evoking memories of early 90s platformers. The characters and environments are beautifully animated, and the music and sound effects effectively convey the gravity of the situation. The game runs well on both the big and small screen (on the Switch), and I never had any stutter, no matter how many bombs I had going off at once. 

Final Thoughts

Bomb Chicken is a great entry for the Nintendo Switch and PC. For only $15, there’s a surprising amount of content, and I never got bored during my entire playthrough.