The princess kitty has been kidnapped by dastardly foxes from another nation and it’s your job to help rescue her from enemy claws in Strike Force Kitty from Deqaf Studio. In this light-platformer filled with humor and joy about grizzled cat warriors, players will find themselves equipping and outfitting their cats to help a kingdom in need.
Strike Force Kitty was developed by Deqaf Studio and ported for by No Gravity Games to the Nintendo Switch. It was initially released in 2018 for PC through Steam and has seen quite a bit of fanfare as an indie title since.
After a beginning sequence involving the kidnapping of the king’s daughter by foxes, players are tasked to send strike forces of four cats into enemy territory to effect a rescue.
This is where the platforming comes into play. The player’s cats charge forward in running style gameplay (initially to the right) but will bounce off obstacles and change directions (they can jump up platforms but not very high). Movement by the kitties can be impaired or changed by environmental design and changes. As they charge, they can also run into fox enemies, who they throw themselves against in combat.
As the kitties defeat foxes, they will drop their outfits – although sometimes it takes multiple kills of particular enemies before they drop clothing. This clothing can be used to dapper-up your cats as well as equip them better for future fights.
Three different equipment items drop from defeated foxes: hat, shirt, and weapon. Each item comes with its own bonuses to kitty stats and they can be mixed and matched as players see fit – the result means some extremely well-dressed strike force crews as the game progresses.
Similar to other games with paper doll equipment, collecting a full set will earn greater team bonus skills.
Just like normal fights, boss fights are relatively simple – but amusing to watch. Bosses are giant characters and your kitties will charge into them like any other enemies and automatically fight them until either the strike force has been crushed or the boss has been defeated. Some bosses require at least four times before a crown is awarded for the stage. After each defeat, the boss will get harder and receive more hit points.
As a result, it’s important to return to previous stages, earn more equipment, and continue to train kitties in skills, hit points, and stamina.
This does mean that Strike Force Kitty is a somewhat grindy game and will involve passing through levels in a particular stage over and over. This can really start to wear on players somewhat because they’ll be seeing the same platforms and enemies repeatedly until they have punched and slashed their way through all the foxes and retrieved their hats and shirts.
The game on the Nintendo Switch also feels like a port that worked better with a mouse and keyboard or touchscreen on mobile. Its tutorial components lack a lot of context on the Switch and that caused our reviewers some confusion at the beginning – however, after getting settled with the user interface on the Switch, it comes extremely easy to play.
Characters in the game players can meet include many geek pop culture icons such as V, Freddy, Mega Man, Lara Croft, and even Darth Vader amid others. Yes, this means that a red light-saber weapon can drop for the kitties in the strike force.
Overall, players who want a game that’s relatively casual and gives them a sense of accomplishment after missions well-done this is going to work out extremely well. The visual design is cartoonish, the kitties are cute and there are lots of costumes with even more combinations.
With a low price tag, its availability for console and mobile modes for the Switch, this game could be a sit on the couch and veg while chatting with friends game, or even something to grind while riding on the bus or in a waiting room. Since the game plays in small puzzle map-stages, it can be put down just as easily as it can be picked up again, this makes it great for on-the-go.
Strike Force Kitty is available now in the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo Switch at a price tag of $4.99.
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