Game: Cake Bash
Genre: Fighting, Arcade, Party, Multiplayer
System: Nintendo Switch (also on PS4, Xbox and Steam)
Developer/Publisher: High Tea Frog |Coatsink Software
Age Rating: EU 7+|US Everyone
Price: USD $19.99 |UK £17.99 |EU €19,99
Release Date: November 19th 2020
Review code used, with many thanks to Coatsink Software!
Developing a Sweet Tooth
Do you like sweets? Roasting marshmallows over a campfire? How about hungry pigeons? Well, Cake Bash has all of those things, and more!
Cake Bash four-person party game is a beat ‘em up extraordinaire! Play couch co-op with four buds, or hop online for some random rumble action. The choice is up to you.
What makes Cake Bash different is it’s mega-cute factor. The premise is that you are a cute and colourful confectionary, and you must compete with your fellow sweets to be the best and tastiest dessert.
Each bash-session will have a different goal, such as having the most chocolate on your pastry-body, for you to compete for.
Once you find that out, you cycle through the different bashes and mini-games, collecting coins to purchase the desired toppings. Each complete round consists of four bashes, four mini-games, and four chances to buy toppings for your character.
Winning the bashes and the mini-games will, obviously, net you more coins, allowing you to purchase more toppings. Topping shopping has your guaranteed purchases, and then there is also a gatcha machine; this machine costs only two coins to use, but there’s a chance you’ll pull something gross. This nasty item will also stick to your cake and make you lose points unless you pay to remove it. High risk, high reward.
Different mini-games and stages are unlocked as you play, and all of them are delightful fun, albeit competitive.
Engage the Rage
This is one of those games that will make enemies out of the best of friends, mostly in the bashes. Y is the punch button, and if you hold Y you will charge up a mega-punch. Getting hit by this punch will knock you back, stun you, and make you drop anything you were holding.
This can be absolutely RAGE-inducing. Especially if you’re JUST about to toss a golden berry into the pudding, and then you get punched, drop it, and are knocked out for too long and just have to watch as the jerk who punched you tosses it in instead!
You have some defense in the form of the B button, which lets you dodge. However, you can only dodge three times before your dodges will have to recharge.
Each stage is set on a small little platform of some kind (a cute cafe table, a little beach blanket, etc.), which means there isn’t a lot of space to dodge around.
As well, hazards are constantly dropping on you: from boxes of sweets, to pigeon poo, to gooey containers of coffee creamer. If one hits you, you’ll be stunned for a few seconds. Many of these things will also create a nasty puddle of goo on the stage that your little cake will severely struggle to walk through.
You have to get very good at timing: timing your punches, your dodges, and even your location at any given moment in order to be crowned the best cake.
A Feast for the Eyes
This game truly pops! It’s bright, and colourful, and will make you crave sweet things. Each confection has its own name and colour, and there are a bunch of cakey-characters to unlock as you play; unlocking the unicorn cupcake was a true highlight!
The cute little faces on each cake just make you wanna take them home and cuddle them in your tum-tum. From the angry face when you’re on a punching rampage, to the cute expectant faces as you’re being judged on your toppings, it’s all a delight.
The sound effects are on point; the whaps and baps as your fists connect with cream filling, or your large lollipop weapon stuns your foes. The gooey sounds as you slap a roasted marshmallow into your frosting. Even the sloshing sounds as you slowly slog your way through a puddle of cream, it all adds to the game.
The music is, as you might expect, just as bright and colourful sounding as the art. It’s cheery and energetic, and fits the cute battle royale style of the game nicely.
Tasty Enough to Buy?
Overall, Cake Bash is a worthy addition to your library. If you enjoy battle royale games, this one is a stellar example of the genre.
You can hop online for some fun, and if you join the Coatsink Discord channel, there are frequently people there looking for some fellows to play with.
Now, maybe it’s just me, but this is the type of game can cause high levels of rage, and/or create enemies out of the best of friends. Make sure you actually put those joy-con straps on your wrist, or you might end up with a few broken controllers.
Final Verdict: I like it a lot!
