• Price: $11.99 USD
• Developer: Kittens in Timespace
• Publisher: aPriori Digital
• Release Date: October 26, 2023

A review code was kindly provided by aPriori Digital on behalf of Kittens in Timespace. We thank them for being able to cover something they’ve worked so hard on.

Kickback Slug: Cosmic Courier is described as “an avoidance-based physics game” in which you play as Slippy the slug, an intergalactic delivery driver. Accompanied by his coworker Mr. McFly, Slippy ends up crash-landing on a planet and losing all of their packages! 😱 Now you must control Slippy and do your best to recover the packages while avoiding the dangerous local flora and fauna…

There are 50 levels across 5 biomes; you must navigate the first 9 levels in each biome and then defeat a boss in every tenth level. As a slug, Slippy seems to have some trouble getting around, and he must use the kickback from his blaster to move in the opposite direction. It can be kind of difficult to get used to pressing the directional pad to the left in order to go right, or up to go down.

Eventually I got used to it somewhat, but it was a little awkward, and I had a hard time consistently moving Slippy where I wanted him to go. Your capabilities will vary depending on how well you can mentally adjust to the opposing directions. This is made more difficult with a single hit from thorns, flames, or creatures resulting in defeat.

You mainly use Slippy’s blaster to move around, but it can also be used to defeat enemies or flip switches that allow you to make it to the portal at the end of each level. The first 10 levels or so weren’t overly difficult, but then they started to kickback it up a notch with the environmental hazards.

I think I could have used a tutorial for some of the levels; I had no idea what I was supposed to do in Level 2 of the Mines. I kept shooting at the dynamite, but nothing would set it off. I’d gotten so used to shooting switches to activate them that I thought that was how I was meant to use the dynamite. It took me forever to figure out the explosives in the Mines and the lasers in the Space levels. Perhaps tutorials could have been helpful there, or a hint system.

There’s an hourglass at the beginning of each level, which you can shoot to activate a timer. You may want to try to complete each level without the timer first to get used to them. The timer challenge really increases the difficulty because you have to avoid a one-hit KO and still make it to the end of a level with the package within the time limit. If you don’t make it in time, you lose and have to start the level from the beginning.

Unlike the regular creatures you bump into in standard levels, bosses have HP bars that allow you to see how much health they have left. I often found myself losing quite often, as the one-hit limit can be pretty unforgiving here. Thankfully, the game seems to keep some of the progress you’ve made in whittling down the boss’ HP when you lose.

Although I messed up quite a bit, I think I enjoyed the boss battles the most. I liked that I didn’t have to start all over again when I lost. It could be a little frustrating to restart normal levels after getting hit once – maybe if the levels were longer but with checkpoints that would have mitigated some of my frustration. The final boss was my favorite level because they give us our own HP bar that allows us to take more than one hit.

Kickback Slug is certainly entertaining, but I will say that it could use some accessibility options for those who aren’t as…coordinated? Restarting a level after one hit could be the default option, but it may have been nice to have more lenient options that allow you to take 2-3 hits, or even an invincibility mode.

I also would have liked to have some little costumes for Slippy. There’s a gallery on the main menu where you can open the packages you’ve recovered and check their contents. Not all of the items are wearable, but there are some items like headphones or roller blades that could have been fun to see on Slippy. They changed the hat that Slippy wears for each biome, which was cute, so that’s what made me consider the other items.

I managed to complete all of the levels and recover all of the lost packages, but I’m afraid I’m not as competent as I’d like to be at the time challenges. It seems like you have to finish each level, get every package, and complete all of the time challenges in order to unlock the bonus levels on the main menu. I wish I was better at the game so I could check out the bonus levels.

Despite my lack of skill, there are still things I liked about the game. The animated opening was a nice touch, and there’s voice acting. The music works well for the rather humorous and quirky tones of the game, and I enjoyed the fun “BOING!” sound effects. I liked the character and level designs, and everything ran smoothly when I played each level. If you have decent coordination and patience, and you enjoy silly yet challenging platformers, Kickback Slug: Cosmic Courier may…deliver…a great experience to you!📦 😉