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Originally available on iOS platforms, Kid Tripp has ran, jumped and smashed its way onto the Nintendo 3DS eShop. We’ve been following the progress of its port for a while now at Nintendo Life and can safely say that the tean behind this auto-runner have done an excellent job - giving us another reason to stop our 3DS consoles from gathering those early layers of dust. So what can you expect from Kid Tripp? Let’s get stuck in!

When you launch the game you are thrown straight into the first level (after watching a small cut-scene where you accidentally fly into a giraffe), and are left to discover the controls and how the game works for yourself. You’ll find that there are four worlds to travel through, each containing new aesthetic themes and five levels. As previously mentioned, Kid Tripp is an auto-runner – meaning that your character will run across the screen automatically, leaving you to alter his speed, jump across platforms and defeat enemies in a chaotic, fast-paced drive to the finish line. The controls are spread across several buttons to suit whichever playing style you prefer – you can jump by pressing A, Y or L for example, with your stone throw attack being set to B, X or R.

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There are three different modes of “auto-running” available called ‘Walking’, ‘Running’ or ‘Hardcore’. ‘Walking’ is the default and is likely where you’ll want to begin. Here, if you don’t press any buttons you will walk, whilst holding down right on the D-Pad will make you run, which is vital for certain parts of levels to have enough momentum. ‘Running’ reverses this, making you automatically run with the option to slow down to a walk. ‘Hardcore’, on the other hand, doesn’t let you run at all, leaving you traipsing through the murderous wilderness with about as much conviction as a snail who arrived to work half an hour early. This makes it even tougher to execute the hardest jumps so it should be a welcome feature for hardcore, platforming perfectionists.

The platforming is a joy to play through – beginning with ten lives at the start of a run, the game starts and you’re off, running like the wind, whizzing over obstacles. When you die you are taken straight back to the start immediately, and off you go again. If you lose your ten lives you have the option to continue from the level you have reached, but are forced to give up all the coins you have collected. You see, collecting 100 coins will give you another life in true 1-Up fashion, and coins are something that are recorded in your final tallies when you complete the game. High-score chasers will want to keep as many coins as possible.

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Kid Tripp is perfectly put together and suits the 3DS wonderfully. The gameplay is addictive; the platforming is tight and every death feels fair – not once did we throw our console across the room declaring that we made a jump and that the game must be lying. You simply learn from your mistakes and try again – like many auto-runners, the purpose here is to learn the course and where you should jump or attack, or maybe do nothing at all to survive. Each play-through should see you getting slightly further. 

Once you have completed a level you can choose to re-enter them from the main menu. This is perfect for completing the additional challenges available and for trying to obtain gold medals. The challenges range from simply completing worlds to other, quirky things such as “fall in the water and survive” or “complete the game using fewer than 500 lives”, and some of them are very challenging to complete. Gold medals are awarded for collecting every gold coin on a level – completionists will want to go back and try to earn every gold medal available.

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The presentation is also nicely done, with infectious music – particularly with the main theme – and lovely pixelated artwork. The art style used to create the worlds, coupled with some nicely planned layering of foreground and background, mean that pushing up the 3D slider is a visual treat. This writer will admit to hardly ever using the 3D functionality after the first year or so of the console’s life, but this time around it feels worth it.

Our only complaint is perhaps the amount of content on offer. Our first run took approximately 45 minutes to complete all four worlds and see the credits screen. This will of course differ slightly for everyone depending on skill level and experience. Of course, now that the levels have been learnt, this number should decrease dramatically with each play-through. Naturally at this point the aim of the game changes to being more about completing it as fast as you can, or trying to unlock all of the achievements; the replay value is certainly there and by no means will you be done with everything after 45 minutes, but it is a shame that there aren’t just an extra couple of worlds to enjoy.

Conclusion

Kid Tripp is a wonderful platforming experience that will have you moving around on your chair with excitement as you get closer and closer to completing its fiendish levels. The action is tight, with every control behaving just as you would expect and a control scheme that feels at home on a 3DS console. Most players should get some enjoyment from playing through the four worlds, but Kid Tripp is ideally suited to those who like to squeeze every last drop out of a game. If your only goal is to complete the levels and move on, expect to be done here rather quickly, but if you want to truly master the game you can expect a lengthy, enjoyable ride.