This week's game is Nyancle Racing, a platformer/racing game hybrid featuring a single cat person in a world of humans. I found that it doesn't quite nail the balance or the particulars of its gameplay styles, but at least it's pretty dang cute!
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if cats could drive cars? Well, Nyancle Racing gives you a little taste of just that! This particular game uses Bump 'N Jump as a foundation, combining overhead racing with the ability to jump in the air. This game handles it differently, though, making it so you can only jump at designated spots and relying heavily on platformer-style design. It's a novel idea that has its moments, but I felt it never came together in a fully cohesive way. The racing feels a little too simple and most levels can be cruised through with little effort, especially if you can save up some cash to buy upgrades. On the other hand, the platforming-focused levels are ridiculously strict, requiring that you make contact with any jump pad in an exact fashion in order to not die and have to start the entire level over again. It's much more doable once you figure out that your brakes work in the air, for some reason, but playing correctly leads to a game with a start-stop kind of pacing that feels ill-suited for what's supposed to be a racing game.
Despite its issues, Nyancle Racing manages to charm just by being really cute! It's a lovely, colorful looking game that really makes the most of the MSX hardware. Smooth scrolling, save functionality, lots of colors and different sprites, it's nice! This game is actually connected to the Famicle Parodic games, which were comical shoot 'em ups on the MSX, and it shares their sense of humor as well. You encounter some goofy enemies like thunder gods, monkeys, and innocent looking ducks, and the item shop you go to is called the "Unusual Item Shop", which is just delightful for a number of reasons. While I wasn't in love with the experience of playing this game, I like everything else it's doing, so if you want a cute game many people probably haven't heard of that also does cool stuff with the MSX, Nyancle Racing is at least worth a spin.
