"A seemingly innocent platformer that takes "Psychadelic" and cranks it past the top of the dial"

If you ever thought that hallucinogenic drugs were just part of western culture, you haven't seen some of the things that have come out of Japan. Just like there is an extremely likely chance that Katamari Damacy was the product of a drug-induced haze, the same can probably be said of J.J. Squawkers. Squawkers is the trippiest, most beautiful 2D arcade game I may have ever played.

Squawkers is now a completely unknown game, particularly to those of us outside of Japan where the game never saw the arcades. It's pretty standard 2D platforming fare on first glance. Playing as a little green birdie, you move, jump, and shoot projectiles through several levels of numerous enemies and moving platforms. The platforming action is solid. There are a ton of enemies, so you'll need a fast trigger finger. That alone is not what makes this game though.

What makes this game is that every level, particularly starting with the second one (the first level is very basic by comparison), is absolutely stunning. You will jump across stars and meteors. You will fight off creatures out of Greek mythology, and robots with baseball caps. You will jump across clouds and purple mountains. You will duel with a giant spade who transforms into an ugly head. Everything is animated fluidly and nicely, and the scenery is so vibrant with color that it comes close to hurting your eyes. Playing J.J. Squawkers made me want to fight through the hordes of beasts, just to see what 2D goodness would feast my eyes next.

Although the weapons are different, gameplay feels almost Contra-like at some points. Most of your energy will be spent mowing down rows of nasty creatures coming from both sides. The weapon powerups are definitely not Contra though. The default weapon is a tomato, which is simple yet effective. You can also get a spread shot, which makes it easier to hit things at short range, but fizzles out long range. Then, you have screws, which fire in a straight line both sideways, upwards, and even downwards while jumping. Pumpkins have the same trajectory as tomatoes, but do more damage. Strangest of all, you can deploy a set of walking shoes which crawl the ground and run over enemies. The impressive arsenal fits the extremely whacked-out mood of the whole game.

On the downside, the game isn't the perfect platformer. It is a bit short. There are five full levels, six if you include the final boss area. This is probably a result of it being an arcade game, but it could have been a meatier adventure. The platform-jumping is a bit simple in all levels save for the space level. The game is also quite difficult at times. It takes three solid hits to die, and with all the craziness that goes on in every level, three hits isn't much. If you're playing on an arcade machine with free play, or with MAME, then you don't have to worry about spending money. Otherwise, this would be quite a money-drain to finish for the inexperienced.

Difficulty aside, the game is a treat to play and watch. Platform and arcade aficionados would be doing themselves a disservice by not checking out J.J. Squawkers.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/06