Prehistoric Dude Review (Nintendo Switch)

Game: Prehistoric Dude
Genre: 2D, Platformer, Action
System: Nintendo Switch (also on PC, PS4 and Xbox One)
Developer|Publisher: lightUp | Ratalaika Games 
Age Rating: EU 7+ | US Everyone
Price: UK £4.99 | EU € 4,99 | US $4.99
Release Date: 14^th August 2020

Review code provided with many thanks to Ratalaika Games

A Belly Good Time

My first experience of playing a video game with a caveman was Chuck Rock on the good old Mega Drive. It was an amusing platformer where you attacked dinosaur enemies with your belly. Yes, you heard that right your belly. One of the funniest design choices that you will only find in game design of the nineties. Chuck Rock was a game that made me laugh with its humour. How it took me away from the troubles I was going through as a young person and reminded me of the importance to have fun now and then. It wasn’t a perfect game it had its issue but I’m grateful for those memories. As I played through Prehistoric Dude those memories came back to me in a way. But enough about childhood nostalgia, lets review.

Come Get Some Ham

You play as Dude. A caveman that likes his ham. Unfortunately the local dinosaurs like it too and when a giant red T-rex decides to take Dude’s ham its time for some pay back. The story is on the simple side and feels like it would make for a pretty amusing children’s book. It’s cute but nothing particularly special. But when I completed the game I really liked how everything tied up. Of course I won’t spoil it here. But lets just say it wasn’t my first prediction.

Short Metroidvania

The game is a really short to the point metrodvania. You have a small map to explore. Items to discover, which will grant the dude new powers to access new areas and 3 boss fights. All in all you could kinda finish this game in a lazy Sunday afternoon if you wanted. But if you do want to spread out the experience the game does save automatically every time you enter a new area. For some people the short length will of course be a turn off. The game is also not too tough and will most likely appeal to a casual audience looking for something fairly stress free. If you die you simply start back at the beginning of the area you’re in. But for the busy gamer with not a lot of time on their hands this is a short entertaining experience that won’t break the bank.

The graphics are your cute pixel designs with lots of colour in the level layouts. Lots of green and vegetation. I wasn’t as fond of the music which was mostly the same track looping over and over, it didn’t particularly stand out. But hey, sometimes I guess you just want to listen to a podcast in the background right?

Watch the Stamina

I found the combat quite interesting. When you begin the game your only means to defend yourself is by throwing axes which are in limited supply. Not too long in you find a club but you soon discover you can’t simply mash the attack button on enemies. You have a stamina bar in the top left of the screen. Every hit you make with the club whether it connects or not costs a bar. Making every hit count. This made the start of the game quite tricky.

Once I got into the flow of things and learned the enemy patterns I was able to get through the game quite comfortably and found it quite hard to put down. The platforming and flow of combat is quite addictive. Not only that but you can also rummage through grass to find more axes and fruit collectibles which was a lot of fun. Find enough of these and you can unlock doors which usually have an item to increase your stamina or health permanently. If you die though you loose a large percentage of your collected food. I’m pleased to report the controls are solid and the game ran well in both handheld and docked modes.

Boss fights while small in number were enjoyable. I was surprised to see the first boss fight required a little out the box thinking to conquer. Let’s just say not all problems can be solved by throwing axes and clubbing things.

Writing on the Cave Wall

Prehistoric Dude is short, easy but has a charm to it that I couldn’t help but enjoy. Sometimes there are those games that make you smile and forget the stress that’s going on around you. While this won’t be for everyone, it won me over and I could see myself picking this up again for a replay when I want to enjoy some prehistoric entertainment.

Final Verdict: I like it a lot