Birdcakes

Can you remember a game that had a concept so awkward, so absurd and you couldn’t get your hands from it?  Developed by indie studio Green Lava, Birdcakes is a twin-stick shooter where you control Pancake, a weapon of mass destruction in the form of a cupcake with wings (a Birdcake), that will shoot disgusting and hungry flies in order to save his beloved Cherry. Pour some sugar on your controller and prepare your candy bullets to defeat waves of enemies in this addictive game! Let’s take a closer look and see everything this little jewel has to offer!

THE GOOD

• I usually don’t start a review talking about it, but this is a special case: I simply loved Birdcakes’ music! It reminds me of Warner Bros’ cartoons like Tiny Toon and Animaniacs. And it just becomes better stage after stage. Green Lava Studio really nailed the sound in this game!
• The visuals don’t fall behind: the cartoon-style 2D graphics of the game are colorful and truly vivid, with characters and enemies very detailed and well-animated. Your foes deserve a special mention: many classes are amazing and genuinely unique. My favorite one is the standard black fly (your first enemy), that sometimes comes with hats, and are licking your blocks of sugars or trying to bite you. A sum of small details so well executed that I must once more praise the developer for what they’ve achieved.
• The gameplay in Birdcakes is quite challenging! You will fly for 6 worlds and must always protect Cherry from the flies that intend to devour her. To dispatch them, you will use candy bullets and a special attack when your bar is full. You can use in your aid the flammable bags or the explosive bags that flies in the scenario. Or you can use the small sugar blocks as barriers to protect Cherry or drop them at enemies’ heads for an instakill. Pay close attention to your ammunition: if you get out of bullets (candies) during a stage, things will be very complicated. And remember that if you die or Cherry is devoured, it’s game over: back to stage one!
• Talking about the enemies, they all require a different approach to be defeated. Some will always aim Cherry, ignoring you, while others will attack you on sight and others will hunt you down. Some attack from the distance while others go after you at full charge. At each level you’re introduced to a new enemy class that requires a different strategy to be beaten. Things gets intense as more and more classes of enemies come at the screen at the same time… a total mess! The bosses are a show apart: after each three stages, you will face a challenging boss. They start as big flies and swarms, but soon they become monstrous and very unpleasant. Take care of them as fast as you can!
• After each gameplay, you can stop at the shop to buy different bullets and abilities for your birdcake, adding a small layer of customization to the game. Choose what better suits your play style and use it to protect your sweet Cherry!
• Besides the tutorial and story mode, the game also offers an infinite mode for the hardcore players! How long can you last in this mode?

MIXED FEELINGS

• The story of the game is explained in load screens by a bird (a parrot, if I’m not wrong). It’s quite original, but it doesn’t work very well. Let’s say that today you played for a couple of hours and saw just a part of the story. When you come back to play a few days later, the story will continue and I doubt you’ll remember what you’ve seen in the previous game session.

THE BAD

• The only bad aspect of the game is the size of items in the screen: characters and enemies are really, really small. It’d be great if we could control the zoom of the camera or if the characters were bigger, occupying more of the screen.

Birdcakes [Score: 85/100] Addictive, beautiful and fun! Birdcakes was totally unexpected and surprised me in every aspect! It has challenging gameplay in randomly generated levels that will require dexterity and good aim while you try your best to beat each level! And you keep coming back for more after each failure, always improving, always wanting more! I don’t usually get carried always like this, but this game became a must buy for me! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did while reviewing it.