The Stretchers is hilarious. Tarsier's comedy co-op puzzler that's just dropped unannounced onto the Switch eShop is a big, bright blast of ludicrously OTT ragdoll physics-based slapstick that sees you and a friend – you can play solo but two is the sweet spot here – take control of a pair of wibbly-wobbly paramedics and their Crazy Taxi-style ambulance as you race around Greenhorn Island saving dizzies from the nefarious plans of Captain Brain, who's been knocking locals into a state of mental confusion in a bizarre attempt to exact revenge on you and your rescue team. It wastes no time getting you right into the action, is easy to control and will have you in tears of laughter and frustrated hysterics as you try (and mostly fail) to co-ordinate your bendy-limbed relief efforts whilst avoiding all manner of deadly traps and pitfalls strewn across each of the seventeen levels on offer.
And what levels they are. This isn't the longest game in the world by any means – we managed to blow through it in about four hours – but in that short time you'll wobble your way around the spinning blades of a sawmill, fling yourself down seaside ziplines, co-ordinate the use of a very heavy lawnmower, bounce on countless trampolines, get smashed by a wrecking ball, go head-to-head with some out-of-control tractors and try to avoid some miffed moles as you carry an unconscious sumo wrestler to safety across an allotment.
There's a fine amount of variety in the missions you undertake across the north and south of Greenhorn Island, and each one is replayable in both standard and time attack modes once you unlock the arcade at your base a little later in the game. The main rescue missions each come with three challenges to complete – stuff like opening all the shed or toilet doors, avoiding being hit by cars or finding a bit of hidden treasure – and there are also a bunch of specific tasks to complete in order to fill in all the gaps in your little sticker book, which acts as an achievement tracker.
Alongside the main missions which drive the story along, there are a bunch of crazy side missions which mix things up further, taking the focus off rescuing dizzies in favour of flinging you headlong into such calamitous madness as using a two-man saw to cut down trees in the middle of a very busy dirt rally track. There's also a bunch of hats and catalogues to unlock to customise your medics back at your base between slapstick sorties, and overall – though the game is quite short – Tarsier has done a good job of giving you a reason, beyond the constant hilarity of it all, to revisit each of the missions on offer here.
The Stretchers does a really great job of treading a fine line between being hilariously frustrating whilst not driving you so far over the edge that you feel like giving up. The controls are easy to get to grips with but there's just enough ham-fistedness in how your little wobbly paramedics go about things that a simple task never works out quite how you want it to. You'll need to audibly direct one another in order to time tricky runs past blades and pesky conveyor belts, and when it all gets a little heated (as it absolutely will) you can take the edge off by clapping at one another and then maybe singing a little tune together to regain your composure.
Once you've done all the serious work of loading all available dizzies into your ambulance, you can then let off some more steam by taking off at high speed, crashing through walls, jumping stunt ramps, driving right through people's gardens and availing yourself of a handful of ambulance upgrades that enable you to boost, glide-crash and spin your way to the doors of the local hospital where Captain Brain's victims are returned to normal via the marvellous De-Dizzler 3000. All of these jumps and stunts then feed into your end-of-level score, so it pays to be as stupid as possible behind the wheel of your ambulance – something made easier by the fact one person drives while the other has control of the turbo booster for maximum carnage.
If we had one gripe with the gameplay here it's that the actual stretcher your paramedics use to pick up dizzies and load them into the back of their ambulance isn't really essential to doing the job. In fact, you can totally forget about using it for the most part – and that's a bit of a shame, because loading dizzies on it and trying to balance them as you get to your transport makes things all the more tricky and hilarious. It would have been nice to see this stretcher aspect enforced in some way so that you don't leave it by the wayside in most missions.
Graphically, The Stretchers is highly reminiscent of Two Point Hospital; it's a chunky and colourful game that looks just as good in portable as it does docked. We had zero technical problems on our playthrough, although the framerate can dip ever-so-slightly when you get really wild in the ambulance from time to time. The music is as daft as expected, speeding up comically as things get ever more out of control onscreen and the cast of characters you meet along the way – including our personal favourite, Professor Doctor – all fit in perfectly to the madcap tone of proceedings.
Obviously this is a game that you'll derive the most fun out of in co-op but we did find that solo worked perfectly well; the whole thing is still fun if you need to power through it alone, just be prepared to feel like your brain is separating down the middle on occasion as you try to get your head around a few of the puzzles sans a partner. A more worrying issue is perhaps that owners of the Switch Lite may find themselves needing to grab a secondary pair of Joy-Con to join in the co-op fun and it's a shame in this instance there's no workaround for those non-detachable grips on Switch's newest model.
Conclusion
The Stretchers is an unexpected delight, dropping on to the eShop without warning and perfectly timed to brighten up the long, dark winter days ahead. Tarsier has taken all its experience working on the likes of Ragdoll Kung-Fu: Fists of Plastic and LittleBigPlanet and brought it together to deliver this ridiculously OTT ragdoll puzzle riot that works well in solo but is on another level when enjoyed with a friend in co-op. Missions are varied and lend themselves perfectly to moments of hilarious slapstick, and there's a couple of real standout moments scattered across the course of proceedings that will have you laughing all the way to the end.
Comments 41
I will buy it for sure!! I like it!!
I already bought it - just sinking a couple dozen hours into BotW and then I'll go for it.
I am having a blast with this game and I only got it 1 hour ago. I have been forced to only play offline games as I forgot i need to renew my NSO subscription but this is so fun I forget about that
Honestly just buy Human fall flat. Its like this game but cheaper but it's on sale for 8 dollars and has online
My six year old son and I played a fair bit of this over the weekend. We had a ton of fun with it. It's a game that is bonkers in all the right ways (there's a button you can mash to make your character clap his hands, at one point we were just standing there clapping like a pair of loonies). Not sure how much fun it would be in single player though.
I just don't understand how this and goose game which are both 4hours manage to get 8s. So you can have 8hrs of gaming for $50 CDN. So I'm going to assume based on this 12 hours equals full price. That is in line with Luigi's mansion 3 and Links Awakening. I guess I just figure I'll get 12 hours between now and when the Olympics are over out of Mario Vs Sonic but that got a crappy review and no one cares about it.
Human fall flat
The problem that I see with this is how it's questionable how good it would be on your own.
@sixrings Game length doesn't factor into a "good game" for me (and most people).
@sixrings yeah I know. I cant stand those games. They are high budget games that are 20 dollars and only 4 hours. Goose game was only popular for memes. Something like hollow knight, castle crashers, and celeste are 15 dollars and last way longer. Untitled goose game and stretchers are overpriced
@MisterMan it should factor price tho. Also Untitled doesnt offer much content for a 20 dollar game. Also once you played it once you've seen it all. Yes it's a good game but it has little value
@PickledKong64 From what I've played, The Stretechers is worth the £17.99 (minus £10 in gold coins) that I paid for it, even if I do finish it soon. It's got a ton of replay value.
Hilarious local co-op you say? Sounds like my kind of game. Loved Overcooked, this looks like a different path to the say result: rolling off the couch laughing with the other player.
@Ghost-Piece GODDAMMIT
I don't even have a high thresholds for hours. But I do expect 15-20 hours for a game. Luigi mansion will provide that from the multiplayer. 20 hours turns out to about $3 a hour. This is $6 a hour. I dunno. I can afford it but I might be cheap. Games to me should be cheaper per hour than going to the movies. But that's just my opinion.
@Miyamotosan this game could be different because its multiplayer compared to something like goose game
@sixrings It could be that this scored better than Mario/Sonic because, even with its short length, it is a better game? Also in a dollars per hour equation this is still cheaper than most movie theatre trips.
@PJOReilly "Great variety of missions **some some** really inventive puzzles and pitfalls to work your way through"
Said "some" twice.
And maybe it could also be punctuated, but idk, im no grammar expert. It just seems off.
@Indielink in Canada where I am a movie ticket is $12. This is about the same price as 2 movies
I'll pass I am not big on puzzle games.
But its always great to see quirky off the beat titles like this.
Dang, if I had someone to play this with, I'd grab it for sure. These goofy ragdoll games always look fun with friends, and not just because you have someone to screw around with.
Also, Professor Brain for Smash!!!
@sixrings If your tickets are 12 bucks then this game still comes out a touch cheaper. And you actually own it.
This game looks like it has escaped the Dreamcast era and I love that. Just wanted to hear about length and side stuff before I bit the bullet. Also lol @ Two Point Hospital. I picked that up from the halloween sale on Steam, and my lord. It's such a beautiful time sink.
@Indielink yes you are right but I've lost interest owning something I won't play again
This looks absolutely wonderful
I am interested in the crazy TAXI element.
Length smength $20 is not too much for this. “Back in my day” there was no such thing as games under $50. With many crap titles going for $70 or higher even!
@PickledKong64
Value is subjective. I’d rather have three amazing hours from a game than 8 good hours for example. And I’ll pay for the experience that sticks in my mind and/or heart. You might see it differently but as I say, it’s completely subjective.
For some strange reason, this game doesn't support Pro Controllers. My hands are crying when I play on those tiny Joy-Cons for more than a couple of minutes.
@sixrings so by the same token then, let's say that one game is 4 hours long but the last two hours are the best, but another is four hours long and is your game of the year. Both games are £9.99. You're gonna tell me what, game number 2 is bang on the money price wise? But if game number 2 didn't exist and you only had game number 1 game number 1 would seem better value. Your logic is your own, fair enough, I just find it ridiculous, because you should really be measuring an experience based on your enjoyment and take away from it rather than over dissecting everything based on exact price and play through time. Also, a game could take one person 4 hours but another 8 hours. I like to take my time and not rush. Some people just rush through everything. See my point?
@oji
I have adult size hands and can’t stand playing with undocked joy con. I bought a pair of plastic molded PS controller type grips and they’re a huge improvement. You just pop the joy con right into it and it’s like a mini-me pro controller!
I’d paste a link, but my phone doesn’t cooperate. 😑
It was the $10 red/blue set on Amazon.
@BorderlineJon
I prefer rushing through things, solely because of my huge backlog.
almost 950 games on Steam alone.
I'd rather rush through my games and actually see, and play them then take my time.
But that is me.
@BorderlineJon hey maybe it's me personally but if I don't put a decent amount of time in. I don't care how good a four hour game is its not going to ever be memorable to me. If anything why not just make a longer game and charge me more. 4 hour games just seem like the developer ran out of ideas. Hey man enjoy your game. I just have a hard time accepting such a short experience can be worth an 8.
@Teksetter thanks, I'll take a closer look at these. Also, the link you provided is visible in the e-mail notification, but not at the site: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y668F7J
@sixrings that's fair enough, we are all entitled to our opinions. Regarding goose game, I did think the price was pretty high, but I knew it would be popular and had to try it, so I went for it at the new game discount, and glad I did. Because to some it might not be that wild or doing anything good, but honestly I found it refreshing and amusing to just mess about and have fun as an idiot haha.
@KitsuneNight yeah maybe I should too as my backlog is mega huge, but in reality I worry I will miss things, and often I do anything. I'm quite OCD like that.
The Stretchers looks awesome! Can't wait to get it downloaded on my Switch, lemme just finish LM3!
A definite future purchase, please someone do a physical.
@oji it does support pro controllers because i've played the game with mine. Although you'll need to use the joycon for 2 player.
Has anyone completed the packages level in the north island? I think that level must be broken, can’t find a way to complete it.
Nice review and nice score. Might pick up someday when it gets cheaper.
Tap here to load 41 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...