However, Scrat’s Nutty Adventure takes very basic moves and tries to call them abilities.

If you’ve played Banjo-Kazooie, you will know that is a big aspect of progression in the level design and collection. There have been plenty of 3D platformers that have gated off moves before and have built levels designed around them. Unfortunately, every ability was a disappointment, because all of them felt as if they should have been included in the base moveset. Often, I felt that the platforming challenges were just shuffled around from level to level, rather than different areas introducing new challenges.Īfter obtaining a crystal nut, Scrat is rewarded with a new ability that will be used in the next world. There wasn’t anything bad, but the platforming challenges got reused fairly often, to the point where I could predict what was in store for me. Once I realized this, I lost interest in looking for secrets because there wasn’t really any incentive, and then my goal was just to get to the end so I could get to the next level. It is very much a “start and go straight to the end” type of experience. There is no upgrade system or skill tree. There are statues hidden around each level, but these are fairly easy to find.

These levels are very linear and don’t really focus on exploration.ĭespite the mission being to collect the crystal nuts, and the land being flooded with purple acorn pick-ups, there is not that much to collect. Rather than play through four huge worlds, Scrat goes through four smaller levels in each one. There are four crystal nuts, one in each section of the world.

The presence proclaims that Scrat is the destined hero that will return the ancient crystal nuts back to the temple and usher in the Golden Age. In this outing, Scrat accidentally offers his prized acorn to a mysterious presence in a forgotten temple. If you are not familiar with the character, Scrat’s mission in life is to collect acorns, presumably to store for the winter. If you’ve already experienced the handful of recent 3D platformers and want to play another, this one might be for you. That uniqueness is an advantage of Nutty Adventure. Interestingly, as of this review, a new Ice Age film is not being promoted, so a game based on one of the comic relief characters in a genre that is seeing something of a revival seems a little bit of a curveball. The silly Saber-Toothed Squirrel, Scrat, from Blue Sky Studio’s Ice Age series has his own game now available on the Nintendo Switch.

Ice age nutty adventure