Chefy-Chef Review | TheXboxHub

It’s not an auspicious begin. Chefy-Chef sounds prefer it’s been named by the identical individuals who voted for Boaty McBoatface. It’s revealed by Ratalaika, who don’t usually punch above a 3.5/5, and it prices lower than a big popcorn on the cinema (we dwell in an costly space). Not that worth ought to matter, however you don’t usually see a winner for lower than a fiver.

Effectively, maintain the presses, as a result of the stupidly named Chefy-Chef is relatively good. It’s small however completely shaped; a sport that has zero pretentions, but does every little thing you could possibly potential need from a finances platformer. It performs effectively, has some neat concepts that push it away from different video games, and it retains issues diverse over a protracted previous house of time. That is, dare we are saying it, the yardstick for concise platform video games.

We needed to rewatch the opening cutscene to recollect what the story was about. The principle character is Chefy, and he’s obtained a style for pineapple-radish salad. However as he approaches the fridge, it goes all Ghostbusters and teleports him to a few worlds of platforming goodness: the jungle, icy mountains and a swamp. In every stage, held aloft on a pedestal, are the three components of his prizewinning salad: a radish, a pineapple and a few milk. If he collects all of them, the fridge-portal reappears. Chefy hops in, hoping every time that his subsequent leap would be the leap dwelling.

There’s some type of social commentary occurring, as there’s additionally a hidden burger in every stage. Presumably, Chefy has a style for a grimy smash burger, and likes to maintain that secret hidden. 

However what completely makes Chefy-Chef is its kitchen utensils. Yeah, you heard us. Within the ranges, you may come throughout a knife, a garlic hammer and a frying pan. These are mapped to LB, X and RB respectively, and so they stick with you for the size of the extent. Duck right into a fridge, and so they should be regained from the next stage. 

The knife isn’t something notably new. It’s a wall-climb, as you dig right into a wall with the blade and clamber up. However it’s additionally a projectile weapon. Chefy-Chef doesn’t do what you suppose he’ll with it: there are treasured few enemies within the sport. So, as a substitute, it’s more-often used to obliterate partitions and hearth via small gaps to ricochet and press buttons. It’s obtained one thing of the Swiss Military Knife about it. 

The garlic hammer, once more, isn’t a weapon. It’s a transportable springboard, as you smash the ground and catapult your self up the sport display screen. It doesn’t care a lot for the floor it propels off, both: you may smash into spikes to get a hefty elevate, for instance, which makes it a robust safety in opposition to a spiky loss of life. Handily, it may additionally smash blocks beneath you, which the knife can’t handle.

However the pièce de résistance is the mighty frying pan. It’s a beast. You possibly can throw it in a mighty arc, after which shortly faucet RB to teleport to it. A crevasse is stopping you from reaching a change on the opposite facet? No worries – simply toss the pan and teleport to it as soon as it lands on the opposite facet. It could swoop you previous hearth, spikes, brambles and extra. We would like one for reals. 

They won’t appear staggering on their very own, however what makes Chefy-Chef a advice is the synergy between them. Throw a frying pan onto a wall, teleport to it after which stick a knife within the rubble to climb upward. Toss a pan over some spikes after which use the garlic hammer to bounce skyward. These things mesh in a wide range of methods, and successfully means you could attain any space on the sport display screen, do you have to be effectively outfitted. The data that nothing can cease you is scrumptious.

The degrees, in flip, have enjoyable with that data. They make the degrees into mazes, however the paths are far sufficient away from you that getting there’s a problem. Maybe you don’t have the utensil for this specific impediment, so that you search in one other route. The degrees are constructed like tiny Metroid dioramas: areas are blocked till you could have the utensil that will get you previous them, after which it’s onto the subsequent stage with the identical drawback. The endlessly resetting Metroidvania method is one conceivable different video games stealing. 

It’s not good by any means. The burger collectibles are hidden within the oddest of manners. One vine, leaf or flower within the stage jiggles barely greater than the others, and that is the place the burger is hidden. However enemies and Chefy will make those self same crops jiggle each time they contact them. So, trying to find collectibles has an unsatisfying edge: you suppose that you simply’ve discovered the extent’s burger, but it surely’s only a leaf that’s transferring as a result of a monkey tossed a bomb in its neighborhood. 

And sixty ranges throughout three worlds is a little bit of a stretch. The worlds provide new hindrances like sticky goo that stops you double-jumping, or icy, sliding platforms, however they get launched extraordinarily hardly ever. We discovered ourselves getting a bit antsy for a brand new world to be launched, as we felt like we have been achieved. However the counterpoint to that’s that you simply get an enormous quantity on your £3.99 – roughly 4 hours of play, we’d guess. So, in the event you can abdomen a little bit of repetition, or play briefly bursts, then the issue can be minimised. 

We wish to give Chefy-Chef a hug. It’s far tighter, extra imaginative and endlessly extra enjoyable than we anticipated. We have been getting ready ourselves for among the most uninterested in platformers, and as a substitute we obtained a textbook instance of how a £3.99 gaming snack ought to be made. So don’t hesitate – pop to the fridge and whip up a fast dish of Chefy-Chef. 

You should purchase Chefy-Chef from the Xbox Retailer