Bomb Chicken Review – Cock-a-Doodle-Boom

I never thought a game starring a fat little chicken that poops bombs could be so entertaining, but Bomb Chicken manages to put a fresh twist on a genre that’s been plucked and cooked to a crisp over the last three decades. The Nintendo Switch is an excellent platform for games like this, that might be overlooked elsewhere, to find their niche, and in the stack of indie titles that are continually releasing for the console, Bomb Chicken definitely blasts to the top.

Bomb Chicken is a sassy, feathered friend that through a freak industrial accident has been given the ability to lay bombs instead of eggs. It’s this simple gameplay loop that takes you through the entire game, solving tons of fast-paced, well thought out puzzles as you go. Developer Nitrome cut its teeth on mobile and flash games, so it’s made simple, addictive gameplay loops a science, so Bomb Chicken is a game that’s easy to pick up and hard to put down.

Bomb Chicken Review: The Life of a (Bomb) Chicken

As the name of the game implies, you play as a chicken which has the singular ability to lay bombs instead of eggs. Unfortunately, the talent has ballooned our titular chicken to the point she can no longer jump. There is one thing you can do in this game, and that’s lay bombs.

Fortunately, Bomb Chicken‘s bombs are quite versatile. She can lay them in quick succession to boost herself to higher places, use them to blast open walls or trigger switches, and roll them forward to attack enemies. The catch is, that much like Bomberman, Bomb Chicken doesn’t have immunity to her own bombs. This gives the game a more frantic pace than it would otherwise have as you have to continually be on the move to avoid your bombs’ explosions.

The story isn’t profound here, but there is some 1990s-esque social commentary going on. Obviously, BFC represents the fast-food industry as a whole, and there are some pot shots at the addictive nature of fast food, treatment of animals in factory farms, and environmental exploitation. It never gets weird or seems out of place, and it was refreshing to see a fun game handle a bit of tongue-in-cheek commentary without bashing your brains in with it.

Bomb Chicken Review: A Touch of Retro

As you bomb your way to freedom through the BFC (think KFC) factory, you’ll travel through three worlds. At first, you’ll just be moving through the BFC factory, but you’ll quickly notice some weirdness when you encounter strange temples and totems. You’ll eventually have to start fighting off the natives of the jungle in which BFC established their factory.

The graphics are a throwback to the days of the SNES and are most reminiscent of Yoshi’s Island. The backdrops are varied, and environments and puzzles are diverse enough to keep you enraptured for the few hours it takes to beat the game. The game is split into 29 stages, and each stage is made up of around four-to-six puzzles. Unfortunately, once you figure each puzzle out, that’s it. While the game is fun the first time around, there’s not a ton of replayability here. However, the relatively low price of $15 helps to temper expectations in these regards considerably.

Bomb Chicken makes the somewhat odd choice to use a limited number of lives, that classic video game system which has fallen out of vogue over the last 10-15 years in favor of checkpoints and continues. Fortunately, even if you run out of lives and are forced to continue, doors you’ve unlocked, and gems you’ve collected persist. After completing a level you can return to it at will via the pause screen, so there’s no fear of missing gems.

Bomb Chicken Review: Da Bomb! (Remember When Everyone Used to Say That?)

If I had only one word to describe Bomb Chicken, it would be “fun.” The gameplay is simple but well executed, and I love the throwback SNES-esque art style. Bomb Chicken herself is a cute, fat, waddling thing, and I hope they make a plushie or something of her at some point.

Bomb Chicken isn’t an innovative, genre-shaking, powerhouse. It doesn’t set out to be. Instead, you get some real solid 2D platforming action with a unique mechanic that sets it apart from its predecessors. It’s a welcome addition to the Switch’s growing library of quality indie games and a smart purchase for anyone who’s looking to kill a little time.

Bomb Chicken was reviewed on a Nintendo Switch via digital code provided by the publisher.