The $6.99 price tag is just one of many fantastic things about this game. This game is a minor masterpiece.
On the island of Krunchatoa, nature takes its course: big critters eat small critters, and the biggest critter of all is Biggs. Like all critters, Biggs needs to survive and feed his family, which he does by force-feeding small critters to big critters until they burst. Then, he consumes the nourishing gems released from the critters' exploded innards and regurgitates streams of technicolour barf for his little ones. As the game itself confesses: Nature is gross.
Critter Crunch's core mechanic is straightforward: feed two small critters to a medium critter, or two mediums to a large, to make it, and all adjacent critters of the same type, burst; however, a dozen additional critter types, a half-dozen power foods, and the chance to pop critter chains and combos add to the complexity and strategy and replayability and enjoyment.
The game comes with a satisfying amount of content spread over a number of balanced modes. The Adventure Mode builds Critter Crunch's story around a nature documentary and teaches you how to play the game through tutorials and the gradual build-up of critter types, items, and difficulty. Puzzle Mode levels restrict the number of moves you can make to clear the screen of critters, calling for problem-solving above fast reflexes. Challenge Mode levels require you to meet certain conditions, such as clearing the screen within a time limit or protecting hatchlings from bigger critters, to move on. There is also a last-as-long-as-you-can Survival Mode. And if that weren't enough, Critter Crunch also has two multiplayer modes, playable on- or offline. Multiplayer Co-op is a two-player survival mode, and Multiplayer Versus pits two players head-to-head, where each uses combos and items to punish the other. Players can also go online to see where they rank on the Critter Crunch leaderboards.
Critter Crunch's design is lovely. It's obvious that oodles of care went into this game. Biggs is absolutely adorable, as fuzzy fuzzballs are wont to be, even when he's barfing rainbows. Levels and characters are colourful and crisp and animate like a high-quality cartoon. A quirky sense of humour is infused throughout, from the Adventure Mode story to the random messages that pop up at the end of levels (e.g. Don't forget to phone your grandparents. They miss you.).
Even the trophies have been solidly executed. Really, they are an integrated part of the experience. Trophies are generally granted for completing or unlocking the game's various modes, or for adequately mastering the game's more advanced skills, so that by the time you get them all, you have experienced most of what the game has to offer. But Capy has really found that sweet spot. With few exceptions, the trophies are challenging enough to be truly satisfying, but not so difficult or so lengthy to obtain that all the fun is drained from getting them. Other PS3 games could seriously learn a lesson here in trophy implementation. [Critter Crunch also has my favourite PS3 trophy ever: a silver called World's Greatest Dad! awarded for regurgitating food for your child enough times.]
Critter Crunch is an attractive package from every angle, and all for a stunning $6.99. Newcomers might be inclined to eye the game with suspicion, wondering, "What's the catch?" The great news is there is no catch. Critter Crunch is all awesome, so grab it before Capy comes to its senses and starts charging what the game is really worth.