Go! Go! Mister Chickums (Xbox Series X)
One day while Mister Chickums and his rooster pal Fritz are relaxing and playing video games, the purple devil Grabbo swipes Chickums’s eggs. While we never find out why Mister Chickums has a hoard of eggs that numbers in the hundreds, Grabbo has left behind a good deal of the pilfered collection across 100 levels, the two chickens leaping into action to stop the impish thief in a single-screen platforming throwback to eighties arcade games like Bubble Bobble.
Whether you’re playing solo as the titular character in Go! Go! Mister Chickums or helping out in co-op as Fritz, the goal of a regular level of this platformer is to get all the eggs scattered about a level into a nest. The eggs are about as large as the playable chickens though, meaning once you get your hands on one, you’ll find your mobility limited a bit. Normally all Chickums and Fritz can do is hop around, but with an egg in hand, their jumps won’t go as high but they’ll now be better able to handle themselves against the monsters patrolling every stage. While most baddies can be hopped onto to damage them, the very eggs you’re collecting are sturdy enough to use as a weapon, a good toss able to harm whatever foes try to impede your egg-collecting work. However, while the eggs will safely bounce off an injured enemy, if they remain out of your hands for too long after, they’ll shatter and reappear where you originally found them.
Egg throwing is the heart of Go! Go! Mister Chickums’s action, whether it’s trying to play it normally to reach the end or if you aim to earn a high score. More points are earned if you can pull off clever ricochet shots such as bouncing an egg off an enemy and having it land safely in the nest. Enemies will reappear after a while though, meaning danger is never gone for too long, but this also gives you more chances to earn points with egg bounces. Go! Go! Mister Chickums does have a time limit on every level though meaning you can’t dawdle and rack up points uncontested. When the timer runs out you won’t be instantly killed at least, but a ghostly little grim reaper named Morty will appear and start pursuing you. You can actually briefly take him out as well, a player able to buy time to get the last eggs needed in rather than being doomed to lose lives to the specter.
If you only care to get every egg in the nest, Go! Go! Mister Chickums can be a rather speedy game that would be a fine fit for speedrunning. Later levels can make navigating the available space a bit more difficult, sometimes needing to throw an egg and retrieve it before it disappears as you cross layers, and many stages start making use of the fact that the single screen play has wraparound edges meaning you can dive down a pit and appear from the top of the screen or go off the left or right sides to appear at the other. However, while clearing levels quickly can sometimes be a cinch, there are many optional goals and helpful tricks to pursue as well. The first and most apparent will likely be that a singular egg glows at a time, this being a priority egg that should be put in the nest before the others. Once that one is set though, a new one lights up, and should you get all the eggs in the nest in the proper order, you’ll see high value diamonds scatter around the stage as a bonus reward.
Other bonuses await players who take the time to engage with a level’s dangers as well. Spend some time clearing out enemies and bubbles holding special items will float up from below. One of these will grant you limited invincibility, and while Go! Go! Mister Chickums normally provides a few lives to clear the game and infinite continues, smart use of invincibility can earn you so many extra lives you can reasonably clear the 100 level adventure in one sitting. Go! Go! Mister Chickums does kindly let you turn the game off and get right back into where you were last time with your score preserved if you do need to quit, but a Game Over does otherwise clear your score so spending some time working towards the invincibility can pay off for people interested in the leaderboards. The other bubble type is a bit more special, providing a letter. Collect all six letters while in one of the game’s ten level worlds and you’ll be able to go to that world’s dedicated bonus stage with plenty of points collectibles and some extra lives. Much like the glowing eggs, these extras give you reason to linger in a level and do some egg throwing for reasons beyond filling the nest, the player able to make decisions across the adventure on whether they might want to just clear a tough level quickly or try for one of the six letters in a later stage of the world rather than a tougher to navigate one.
Go! Go! Mister Chickums does seem to want you to feel out its extras rather than coming right out and introducing them, but there is a list of achievements to help nudge you towards playing certain ways or give you a little more to do after you’ve finished a full run through. However, the levels of Go! Go! Mister Chickums do feel rather tame in terms of the new variables they put into play. Most levels in Go! Go! Mister Chickums are set apart by their enemies. Some will just move back and forth in their designated area, but later enemies like the pickaxe throwing miners can cover more space and later foes like the snowman will attack only when they spot you directly. Later levels will require better movement to avoid getting hit, but the egg throwing doesn’t often get complicated in interesting ways so the regular flow of the action feels pretty similar. New worlds can bring in some shake-ups like Tropical Treasures having plenty of swimming sections and Cloud Castle leaning on a lot of wind you can ride or get sabotaged by, but these are pretty mild alterations to play that you quickly come to grips with. The biggest change in format will involve the boss fights with Grabbo, but these are often incredibly easy. Three hits take him out and he can be hit in quick succession, it not too hard to keep him from even showing off whatever his world specific attack will be. While the regular levels can be a bit samey despite the small new ideas, the boss fights are a letdown that almost barely register as part of the experience because of how easy they are.
THE VERDICT: Go! Go! Mister Chickums does have catchy themes and the retro look does suit its single screen arcadey play, but its iteration on the egg-throwing action feels a bit subdued. There is some satisfaction to be found in successful trick shots and the extras to pursue encourage more skillful play than just dunking all the eggs in a nest to move on, but the new mechanics and enemy types don’t advance the action in exciting ways. Go! Go! Mister Chickums is a lively little platformer despite its weak boss fights and limited evolution across its 100 levels, but the flexibility to approach levels differently based on the balance of risk and opportunity still keep it fairly fun and involved throughout.
And so, I give Go! Go! Mister Chickums for Xbox Series X…
An OKAY rating. Bonus levels, extra life chances, and trying to hit the glowing egg order give even a tamer level of Go! Go! Mister Chickums some room for more interesting play, but even as new enemies show up or an impressive design like a level set on a windmill show up, the egg throwing still feels fairly standard. Some stages that do get a bit gimmicky can even be a little frustrating, your limited jump height when holding an egg a reasonable impediment to keep the game from being too easy but also making stages that require tighter movement feel a bit rough. Most of the little complications aren’t going to make you feel like you’re hindered to an annoying degree though, most enemies having clear and reliable movement styles that are quickly learned and can be worked around. The new worlds may not be expanding the action too much with whatever little elements they introduce, but they are staving off stagnation well, providing new sights and something a little different so the platforming doesn’t get dull. Still, Go! Go! Mister Chickums does feel like it’s hit the border when it comes to deciding how retro it wants to go. Having touches like the CRT filter or wraparound edges keep it faithful, but older arcade games like its possible inspiration Bubble Bobble are hemmed in a bit by being fully devoted to one consistent type of action. Go! Go! Mister Chickums does push at the limits a bit with elements like swimming underwater but then also includes the type of all too easy boss fights found in old school titles, but considering how smooth Go! Go! Mister Chickums can feel if you go for speedy play and the game allows you to decide if you care more about points or progress without being needlessly punishing, it at least feels like it made smart compromises. Its being reverent to 80s arcade style but can be entertaining to players who have had almost 50 years to play a wide range of other types of video games.
Go! Go! Mister Chickums is a nice throwback but also one with a unique enough idea that it isn’t retreading old ground. Pulling off a skillful egg ricochet remains a thrill and the game won’t punish you for tossing around eggs willy-nilly if it’s needed to just get around safely. While the blend of modern enhancements and old school sensibilities could have been pushed a bit further to provide a more varied experience, it still has that extra layer of depth that makes the egg chucking action a bit more engaging.