They don't want to be an "experience," they don't want to heal my inner trauma, and they don't want to sell me a roadmap for the next three years. They just come and say: here’s a chicken, here are some stolen eggs, here are 100 levels, figure it out. And that’s exactly Go! Go! Mister Chickums. A classic single-screen platformer inspired by the arcade hits of the '80s, with 100 levels, local co-op for two, and a simple premise where the villain Grabbo steals Chickums' eggs, and you embark on a quest for revenge through a series of increasingly challenging levels. No philosophy, just pure arcade action.
Each screen is a small puzzle of reflexes, movement, and risk assessment. You need to collect the eggs before time runs out, avoid or deal with enemies along the way, grab bonuses, and survive long enough so your ego doesn’t break around the thirtieth level. And it breaks. Of course, it breaks. The developers have clearly channeled that retro spirit of arcades that doesn’t forgive mistakes. One attempt, one mistake, you lose lives, then another attempt because you’re convinced you’ve “figured out the pattern.” Of course, you haven’t. But you go again.
Go! Go! Mister Chickums has enough of its own charm, from its visual identity to its endearingly silly tone, to stand on its own. And the soundtrack clearly does its part well, as the game’s presentation pushes that bright, energetic arcade feeling without becoming tiresome. Of course, this type of game has its limitations. If you’re not the type of player who enjoys repeating a level until you master it, there’s not much magic that will convert you. There’s no story to pull you along, no big mechanical twists every twenty minutes, no illusion of grandeur. This is literally a game that says: “here’s a level, solve it.” In that sense, Go! Go! Mister Chickums is not for everyone.
Local co-op is also a big plus, as this format naturally benefits when you have someone next to you. Not just for assistance, but for that old, almost forgotten feeling of sitting on the couch and shouting at the screen together. Although it’s not my type, the greatest compliment I can give this game is that it feels sincere. It doesn’t hide behind irony, it doesn’t try to be “retro-inspired but with a modern twist,” it doesn’t pretend to be revolutionary. It simply takes the old school, polishes it, adds a charming main character, enough diverse levels and enemies, and then lets you prove yourself.
Go! Go! Mister Chickums won’t dominate discussions about the best platformer of the year, but it’s exactly the type of title that easily wins hearts as soon as you give it a chance. Charming, fast, clear, and challenging enough to keep you awake. In a time when even the smallest indie games often suffer from excess ambition, it’s refreshing to play something that just wants to be good fun.
If you love old platforming precision and games that test you without much philosophizing, Mister Chickums is very much worth your time.
A copy of the PC version for the purposes of this review was provided by the development studio com8com1
