Space Otter Charlie Review (Nintendo Switch)

Title: Space Otter Charlie
Genre: Action, Adventure, Platformer
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on PC, PS4 and Xbox)
Developer|Publisher: Wayward Distractions | The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild
Age Rating: EU 3+ | US Everyone
Price: UK £10.99 | EU € 14,99 | US $14.99
Release Date: March 18^th2021

Review code provided with many thanks to The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild

Otter Video Game Renaissance

If you have followed my work on LadiesGamers for the last year, you may know I’m pretty fond of the little furry brown critters known as Otters. As my article from World Otter Day pointed out, there is a pretty big shortage of Otter based video games. Then out of nowhere in 2020 we had The Otterman Empire and now in 2021 we have Space Otter Charlie. Is this the start of the Otter video game renaissance? Let’s hope so.

Space Otter Charlie sprinkles in Sea Otter facts as you play through the experience so in honour of that I will be sprinkling in some facts of my own in this review.

Otter Fact: There are 13 species of Otter in the world today. All but one of these species is currently considered endangered.

Abandon Earth to Otter Space

The humans have up and left Earth which is in a devastating state. There’s trash everywhere and a climate which is far too warm for the animals left behind. A group of Sea Otters take it upon themselves to build a space rocket and find a new home for all the animals left behind. You play as the adorable Charlie, who with the help of his Otter buddies, must explore the derelict remains of various space ships which have been taken over by a deranged AI.

The story is presented in a colourful story book style art panels and keeps things simple but also quite humorous. It was hard not to smirk at the playful banter between Charlie and his crew mates presented in text boxes. But between the jokes there’s a lot of heart. This is a story designed to appeal to gamers of all ages and skills. As you explore the space ship you often find disks which deliver real world facts about Otters making this a game that mildly educates you as well as entertains you.

Otter Fact: With strength in numbers some Otter species can deter crocodile attacks.

Swim in Space

Space Otter Charlie is a 2D platformer with a little twist. Since Charlie is in a space suit he can jump from platform to platform in zero gravity. This gameplay style reminds me a lot of Dandara, a brilliant Metroidvania available on Switch. The main difference here is Charlie can land on any platform in the level and you also have more control over Charlie’s movement as he bounces from one platform to the next. In fact you can direct him to just hover in space. The flow of this feels very similar to how a Sea Otter would swim in water and I have to say this is impressive attention to detail from the developers.

The graphics themselves are simple, colourful, paper like sprites. It’s simple and doesn’t break new ground. You’re exploring metallic space ships with a small assortment of robotic enemies to attack. The game does feel like they were working with a small budget but the developers have done a good job leaning into the cute and cuddly feel as much as possible.

James Fact: Dandara was the second review James wrote for Ladies Gamers.

The controls initially take a little bit of getting used to as this is not a typical platformer. It does break you in gently allowing you to get used to things – a bit like a Sea Otter pup I guess. Before you know it you’re hopping between platforms, avoiding electrical and fire hazards as well as shooting robot baddies with your zappy space gun. This can also be used to activate switches and solve some fairly straight forward puzzles. As well as floating, you can hold ZL on platforms you land on and pull off a cool little slide move. It ends up being quite fun and responsive in handheld and TV modes.

Otter Fact: Singapore has a thriving Otter community. The most famous family are the Bishan family.

Easy Experience

I guess the main niggle of this experience is some gamers will find it a tad easy. It’s very hard to make a game appeal to absolutely everyone and Space Otter Charlie’s target audience slants towards the casual crowd. Checkpoints are frequent, death has no consequence and the game makes it very clear where your next objective is.

The other main niggle is the game is very short clocking in at under the five hour mark and that was with me collecting absolutely everything the game had to offer. There are new space suits and upgrades to craft. You can also collect various new animal crew members to join you on your spaceship but this doesn’t really add anything to the gameplay. This may be fine for folk with busy lifestyles and not a lot of time on their hands to game. But I certainly walked away wanting more.

Though short I can confidently say the experience was incredibly entertaining. The only bugs I experienced were occasionally collectibles dropped by enemies that got stuck in the walls. But this didn’t break the game.

Otter Fact: Sea Otters are the only Otters to give birth in water. All other species give birth on land.

Otter vs Otter

The game also makes use of a multiplayer mode where up to four folk can compete locally in a few games modes like So Urchin (collect as many Urchins as possible) and Furry Fury (death match). A welcome addition but I think I would have just preferred the ability to play the game in co-op mode or had some form of additional co-operative mode to play with a second player. Multiplayer modes are fine and all but it’s often hard to convince casual gamer friends to try multiplayer modes like this, over say a Mario based game on Switch.

Otter Fact: At two months old River Otters push their young in the water to learn how to swim.

Otter This World

Space Otter Charlie is a delightful and charming experience. Each time I picked up the game I constantly had a smile on my face. Some gamers may find the game a little too easy but if you’re looking for a heart-warming platformer with an Otter twist, then this is it! Space Otter Charlie is a welcome addition to anyone’s Switch and that’s a fact!

Final Verdict: I like it a lot