“The evil alien Smurglien race has taken notice of Earth’s fancy World Wide Web and have begun stealing its WiFi. In doing so, they have hacked their own version of the internet and hid it deep within the Earth’s web-based systems, calling it the Smurnet.” Now that’s a game description!
Senior citizens are out of control and attacking with the aliens and there is only one or actually two rays of hope for humanity. You and/or a friend, and a butt load of caffeine. Coffee Crisis, one of the latest releases from Mega Cat Studios, is the greatest definition of beat em’ up 16 bit action arcade. Originally released for the Sega Genesis in 2017, Coffee Crisis is starting to get more notice now because of the cross platform availability.
You take control of baristas Nick and Ashley, armed with a bag of espresso beans going from one point to the next beating up everything in site. While this is happening, power-ups and weapons become available for you to use to increase your damage against the baddies. There are sic challenging levels to play. And for those that may have challenging issues, at the end of each level there is a code to get you back to that level at a later time.
Graphics: First impression of this game is, this reminds me a lot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Turtles in Time, which happens to be one of my favorite side brawler games. On a 16-bit level in comparisson, this is perfect! This is a great change up from playing all those first person shooter games that are in my library. It is completely refreshing to see such clear graphics done so well and not sacrificed since they are put on a high-end system.
Gameplay: Yes, this IS and will always be a button mashing fighter. But there is nothing wrong with that. A lot of the games from the 90’s and even the 80’s in the arcade were button mashers but still considered to be a lot of fun. Case in point of TMNT and even the Simpsons. What makes this more interesting is that you can learn a few moves to improve your barista but it isn’t required.
But what makes it even more fun, is when playing on a Switch, you have divide the controllers so you can play two players. But the only downside is the sixe of the controller. It’s a lot easier to play with a regular sized game controller.
Music: What can you say about a game that is about coffee induced baristas fighting aliens and heavy metal. A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN!!!! Until now, I was not able to think back about ANY game in the past that had a great combination of music and gameplay and music and graphics with this particular genre of game. The music is beyond perfect. You may find yourself thrashing your head from time to time.
Bottom Line: Even though I originally purchased this game for the Playstation 4 format, I was mostly drawn to the fact that it was finally available for the Nintendo Switch. The Switch has lately been my go to system for the fact that not only can you take it with you wherever you go, but you can also get a lot of low priced retro style games for it. And Coffee Crisis is no exception to that rule. It is a great addition to my library and will forever be there.
For more information, visit: http://games.megacatstudios.com/Coffee-Crisis/
Brad has been a die hard arcade fan ever since he can remember. From the first time he played Space Invaders, to the first time he played Pacman, Brad has always had a love for video games. Hanging out at either the Great American Fun Factory in the mall, or spending the night in front of the glowing games at the local roller rink, he was always thinking about when he can spend the next quarter. He also worked at Babbages, which is now GameStop, for over six years. Mostly because they had a really sweet checkout policy on new products and great discounts. But since he had the Atari 2600, he has never looked back and owned some of the greatest home machines, NES, SNES, GENESIS, Turbo Graphix 16, GameBoy, Game Gear, Lynx, Playsation 1,2,3,4 and Vita, XBOX, Gamecube, and N64...just to name a few. Brad is also a reviewer for Mobile Beat Magazine as well as a freelance videographer, part time disc jockey, performing artist and photographer. But has a true love is for video games and Star Wars, as he is a member of the 501st Central Garrison. His ultimate dream is to own a fully working pinball machine and arcade machine. Difficult to say which one, but a Star Wars one would be nice start.
