Gripping and swinging your way through a Non-Jumping Platformer
Publisher: Redstart Interactive
Developer: Redstart Interactive
Release: March 25, 2021
Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch
Also on: PC
Get a Grip Chip sees you playing as a small robot trying to save your robot friends from a factory that has become increasingly dangerous. It’s a pretty ambitious take on the platformer genre by removing the biggest staple of the genre, jumping. Instead of the classical take, you do all of your traversal in the factory via the hook on your head. Invoking a feeling of Bionic Commando (for those of us old enough to remember that classic), the mechanic is pulled off (no pun intended) quite well. The execution on the grapple is pulled off surprisingly well with using the right analog stick to aim your mechanical arm on your head and pressing the right trigger to send it out to grab on to various points to advance your way through the levels.
There are five different floors in the factory each of which with six different levels, making the game an impressive 30 levels worth of action. Each of the different floors has a slightly different theme to them making them all unique in their own right. There are 10 hidden robot friends to save in each of the levels making 300 to save as you play (I saved you the math on that one). Not all of your companions are easy to find as there are many secret areas to explore throughout. The sixth level on each of the floors is a boss run where you’re trying to escape the floor in a very timely manner as you are being chased the entire run. Upon level completion a time leaderboard comes up showing your rank in the world making this game a good option for those who are competitive or have a love of speed running.
Graphically nothing really stands out as going above and beyond, but the graphics are cute and fitting for the game. Animation is very solid, cute, smooth, and not a hiccup to be found. As touched on previously, the controls are spot on and very tight. You never feel like your grabber is off and causing you death. Sounds of the game also sound like you would expect and want from this style of game. The music is catchy enough and not obnoxious. Sound effects are all very fitting and not repetitive.
Final Grade: B+
While I really enjoyed my time with Get a Grip Chip, the one thing that may have held it back slightly would be the ease of the game. I never really felt too challenged by any of the levels unless making a run for all the robot friends in a level. The difficulty ramped up enough as going through it, but never enough to cause more than eight deaths in a level. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it made playing it pretty peaceful. All in all I recommend giving it a go if you want to play through a unique twist on a genre that has been around for a very long time.