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.
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.
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.
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.
Comments 36
Looks enjoyable but alas I haven't picked up my 3DS in weeks. If it was released on the Switch, probably for £4.99 inc Switch tax , I would be picking this up asap.
Is the bottom screen always just plain black as the eShop screenshots suggest?
Congrats @Pixelman and @ImDiggerDan! Greatly looking forward to the Switch port.
@Kiz3000 The good word is he has just started coding for the Switch so hold tight!
I don't play runners much, but this game's aesthetic really charms me. Combine that with a positive review and I think I'm gonna go for 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. "
I knew I sucked but didn't realize how much until now.
Just got it from eShop. Although the price tag is 4x higher than the original iOS version ($0.99), the 3DS port plays nicely with physical buttons and has 3D. It's really addictive.
This game is tough but a lot of fun!
Assuming it's priced the same, I'll just pick this up on the Switch.
@Kiz3000 - Switch is indeed on the way. I'm in the middle of the conversion now.
@Gavin-Rozee - Yes it is always black. We considered putting info on that screen during gameplay but to be honest, if you take your eyes off the top screen, you die. Plus it would have delayed release. If we come up with any really cool ideas for that screen we may put out an update.
@rushiosan It is 4x higher, but there are 2x as many developers involved in this version and there are 50% extra dimensions to the visuals. Unless my maths is screwy, that totally justifies 4x the cost!
@roadrunner343 Thanks from both of us! I too am eagerly awaiting the Switch port.
@RyanCraddock - Thanks for the review, it was a joy to read and I think is totally fair.
@ImDiggerDan Yeah, not to mention it costs more to port and publish to 3DS overall. I'm still very satisfied with the game, it totally worth $4.
@ImDiggerDan Not at all, thank you! It was an absolute joy to play through and I hope that came across in my review. Looking forward to seeing the game on Switch too. Best of luck with the whole process!
Eh, its just another autoscroller with nicked graphics (yoshi's island graphics). A 8 is a bit much.
...was on the fence, now I'm sold, thanks...it's good to know Kid rocks!..
@ImDiggerDan That is good to know and, not that it means much, you are guaranteed 1 sale to me.
Oh and using your maths from the 3DS version costing 4x more does that mean with the Switch not being 3D then I can expect that version to only cost £1.99? Hehe
I think I'm actually convinced. Part of me gets a kind of Wonder Boy vibe from this too, it would be like the bits when he's on his skateboard, which would be very cool if it actually feels much like that.
@Adam......omg a wild Adam?
@ImDiggerDan good port man! Tell pix its a fun but hard game
All hail @ImDiggerDan !!!! A very nice developer who makes fairly priced, excellent games out of love. Thanks for visiting the forums. Wish there were a hundred more like you...
@Kiz3000 The switch version supports 2x the number of screen resolutions as the 3DS whilst still retaining 66% of the dimensions, so it should be $6! Being the same price as the 3DS version would be a bargain.
@impurekind When we decided to change the controls, the initial test of the "Running" mode made us instantly think of the skateboard sections on Wonder Boy and we loved it. We knew immediately that we had to keep them. The guy who suggested those controls (a colleague in my day job) gets a mention in the credits for that one!
Actually changing the controls was a difficult decision though, we wanted to keep the game exactly the same as the iOS version, hence why we included the 'Hardcore' controls which work exactly as the iOS version.
@SMEXIZELDAMAN Don't worry - he knows! He still lurks around here somewhere...
@Muddy_4_Ever Thank you so much, what a lovely comment! I hope Four Horses never gets so big that I don't have time to care about what the public think of my games.
(I feel cheeky making any claim that Kid Tripp 3DS is at all mine! Michelangelo once said of his David statue that he did not create it, it was always there, he just chipped away the parts of it that weren't David. I feel the same, this game is not mine, @pixelman created it, I just hammered the Objective out of his code and added some ++ and a little 3D)
By the way, if anyone is interested in knowing how the Switch version is coming along, I decided to blog the process. The more people who read this, the more pressure I'll feel to not slink off and play a bit of Crash Bandicoot instead of working!
http://fourhorses.co.uk/switch_blog/page0.html
@ImDiggerDan Nice, thanks for the blog link. Hope everything goes smoothly for you. As a newly beginning hobbyist developer (As in, still very much learning and only made a few barely useful programs in C#) I love seeing this type of process documentation. Now turn off Crash and get back to work! =P
@ImDiggerDan I heard that it wasn't easy to get Switch development hardware. Does this mean it's not the case anymore?
@NinNin I can't really comment on that, Nintendo certainly held back for a while. I held off requesting it until I had an agreement to make Kid Tripp for 3DS and in principal on Switch so that when I asked Nintendo, I actually had something concrete to show them in case they asked. They said yes to me fairly quickly.
@ImDiggerDan Touche good sir. I wouldn't be expecting this game for the same price as 3DS but around £5/$6 would be nice.
See ya next fall!
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Sorry...
@ImDiggerDan Nice.
Wait that's a cap? I always assumed it was hair.
Wait a minute, is that tean? Or team?
@Gavintendo yea, it's blank throughout the entire game.
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