Kersploosh! Review

Try hitting that window with this rock.

For decades, kids have said this to each other, pressuring one another to take rebellion in their hand, feel its weight, and ultimately hurl it at a pane of glass and make an awesome crashing noise. Not me. I prefer a safer game, a gentler game.

So how about dropping a stone down a well and imagining all the donuts and traps it sees on its way to the bottom? Yes, the same people who brought you two women throwing hipsters at other hipsters comes a game about pretending something awesome is going on, but really it's just gravity. Available today on the eShop is Kersploosh!—just another oddity from Nintendo, or is it a welcome distraction at the right price?

It's no surprise that Kersploosh! reminds me of another game I really love, mostly because Tokyo Crash Mobs aped the Marble Madness-style games I also really love. Kersploosh! gives players an increasingly difficult set of wells, but one early sequence struck me as a callback to a Nintendo 64 classic.

In Kerpsloosh! you control a stone falling down a well, but in the well are spinning traps, fake-out platforms, and a whole mess of donuts that boost you faster as you race against a clock. The object is to get to the bottom with all of your health and a whole bunch of points on the board. These are kept in a leaderboard and that's about all there is to it.

The presentation leaves a little to be desired, like why can't I go to the next well after I finish one level? Why do I have to go back to the main menu? It should be noted that Kersploosh! is being sold for $2.99 which is not much for a downloadable game, but it's still not as low as the $0.99 games on iOS and Android. I wish there was a little more to the game, but what's available is certainly repayable and challenging enough for the asking price.

It was in the first few trips into the well, though, that I started to get déjà vu. Suddenly, the planks of wood that sought to impede my stone's journey jutted out and blocked the path I had been planning to take. The 3D effect threw me off, but I ducked and tried to weave through the digital trap. I felt the way I do leaving Venom in Star Fox 64.

Despite itself, Kersploosh! is actually an endearing sort of gaming experience. As pure and unquestioning as you can find anymore. It doesn't aim to change the landscape or steal world record sales figures. It's just a fun little game that you can play in between the 3DS's heavy hitters.

I would recommend Kersploosh! to anyone with a few extra bucks left over from their Nintendo eShop card. Its light, exciting soundtrack, crisp, color visuals, and superb use of the 3D effect make it a worthy minigame to have for a few seconds with your 3DS here and there. Now how about a game where you throw rocks at an old warehouse?