Cat Bird

Last updated

Cat Bird
Cat Bird Icon.png
App icon
Developer(s) Raiyumi
Publisher(s) Raiyumi
Composer(s) Julien Mier
Engine Stencyl
Platform(s)
Release23 August 2017
Genre(s) Platformer
Mode(s) Single-player

Cat Bird (sometimes stylised as Cat Bird!) is a 2017 mobile puzzle-platformer developed and published by Ryan Carag, under the pseudonym Raiyumi, for Android and iOS. The game revolves around Cat Bird, a cross between a cat and a bird, who is trying to get back to its home planet by travelling through portals at the end of each level. Cat Bird's main gimmick is being able to glide upon jumping, which can be used to overcome obstacles within the levels. The game encourages replayability by counting the player's deaths instead of giving the player lives.

Contents

The game was released on 23 August 2017. Additional content was released subsequently. Cat Bird received positive reviews, with critics praising the level design, music, and art style, with some criticism directed at the onscreen button layouts. The game was downloaded over five million times.

Gameplay

Cat Bird gliding over gaps to land on platforms while dodging obstacles such as spikes and sawblades. Cat Bird gameplay.gif
Cat Bird gliding over gaps to land on platforms while dodging obstacles such as spikes and sawblades.

Cat Bird is a two-dimensional (2D) puzzle-platformer game set in outer space, featuring a pixelated art-style. [1] [2] The player character is a half-cat, half-bird hybrid named Cat Bird. The game's opening sees Cat Bird launched away from its home planet during a meteor shower, with the goal of the game being to return home. Buttons to control the player character are positioned on the lower-half of the phone screen. [3] The core gameplay of Cat Bird consists of the player character's ability to glide, which can be achieved by holding down the jump command. [4] The gliding mechanic is used in the game to help avoid hazards and obstacles such as spikes, saw blades, falling rocks, and enemies; [5] as well as to solve puzzles. [6] The game consists of 40 levels split across multiple planets, [6] with a boss fight at the end of each planet. [7] Some levels contain hidden crown collectables for the player to find. [8] After an update in October 2017, the game added a fourth planet, which the player can unlock at any time. Two levels on the planet require crowns to unlock, which, upon completion, grant the player skins for the player character. [9]

Unlike other platformers that give the player a finite number of lives, the player is granted an unlimited number of lives. However, obstacles can only hit Cat Bird once before it dies. The typical lives counter is instead replaced by a counter that tracks the number of deaths accumulated throughout a playthrough, which is used to encourage replayability. [10] Another way the game encourages replayability is with the Time Trials mode, where the player replays all the levels of a selected planet while being timed against a clock. [7] The game also features a leaderboard. [8]

Development and release

Cat Bird was developed by Ryan Carag (also known as Rayumi), [11] founder of indie mobile game developer Raiyumi Inc, [12] who developed the game using the Stencyl game engine. Julien Mier composed the music for Cat Bird. [1] In an interview with website Indie Zoom, Carag mentioned that during the early stages of development, the core mechanic was originally that the player character would need to recharge their jump. However, Carag opted to switch out the recharge mechanic due to finding designing fun levels around the mechanic "quite difficult". Upon switching to the gliding mechanic, level design became "easier" for him. Later in the interview, Carag mentioned that level design was the hardest aspect of the development process of the game, stating he would "create a rough of each level, test, and work on the next level" before later on adding detail to the levels. [13]

Cat Bird was Carag's first release, and according to him, it took four months to develop. [13] [14] A trailer was released in early August 2017, with the game scheduled for 24 August; [15] it launched on 23 August, releasing for Android and iOS-supported devices. [16] On 26 October, the game was updated to implement a new world featuring new levels and a new boss. Two of these levels require collecting the crown collectables to unlock, which, when beating those levels, would unlock skins for the player character. This update also featured new achievements as well as the implementation of a leaderboard. [9]

Reception

Critical reception

Cat Bird received positive reviews from critics, with websites such as Pocket Gamer and Game Rant citing it as one of the best games on mobile. [4] [18] TouchArcade listed the game in its "Best iPhone Games of 2017" list. [19]

One of the game's most praised aspects is its pixelated art style. Some critics compared the environmental detail to that seen in the games Fez and Cave Story , [1] with Pocket Gamer's Chris James stating that the game's art style rivals that of Fez, feeling that each world had nice variety. [17] In his review for TouchArcade, Jared Nelson commented on how the environments in the game were very detailed and "full of life" thanks to addition of creatures in the background of levels. Nelson added that, compared to other "pixel art "throwback" platformers", he felt Cat Bird was fully realised thanks to the game's controls and level design. [8] AppAdvice's Christine Chan described the game's aesthetics as nostalgic, commenting further the game utilised a palette of both "soft and muted earth tones as well vibrant and bright colours". [3] Similar to the art style, the music of Cat Bird was equally praised. In his review, James described how the soundtrack made him want to "pop your headphones in just to soak up the atmosphere." [17] Chan mentioned how the music added to the game's overall charm, adding that she described the sound effects as "quirky." [3]

Another factor of the game that was heavily praised was the level design. CJ Andriessen from Destructoid mentioned how the level design in Cat Bird is what sets the game apart from others like it, adding further that he felt Carag got what made the titular character unique and, as a result, was able to design the levels to test the capabilities of the character. [1] TouchArcade also praised the level design, mentioning that the puzzle platforming is really well designed and often used to demonstrate the gliding mechanic. [8] The controls of the game were more mixedly received. James felt that the controls were reliable for handling the worst each level had to offer, likening the traps in the levels to those seen in Super Meat Boy . He added that any death gained during his playthrough, he felt was his fault rather than the fault of the game. [17] Likewise, in the TouchArcade review, the controls were praised, with Nelson mentioning that the simple moveset coupled well with the game's level design and progression instead of introducing a more complex moveset to the player. [8] Gamezebo's Jennifer Allen stated that the game nailed the control system, mentioning how the player will end up gliding a lot. However Allen also detailed some issues with the onscreen button controls, saying that on occasion, the gliding would stop and the character would. [7] Similarly, Chan criticised the button controls ,stating that she felt the positioning of the buttons was "a tad annoying" and recalled times where the player character would move in the opposite direction compared to Chan's input. [3]

Many critics touched upon the design of the character Cat Bird, with the likes of Pocket Gamer and TouchArcade believing that the character looked more like a bat rather than a hybrid animal, with Jared Nelson further adding that he thought that it was part of a joke, although he still found the character cute, but in a "slightly creepy kind of way." [8] James joked about how the game should have been called "Cat Bat" instead. [17] Gamezebo's Allen commented that Cat Bird was rather "odd looking" and "bizarre", [7] while Destructoid's Andriessen called the character a "cuddly abomination." [1]

Sales

According to Sensor Tower, Cat Bird has achieved over five million downloads on the Google Play Store. [20]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Andriessen, CJ (31 August 2017). "If you're not playing Cat Bird, what the hell are you doing with your life?". Destructoid . Archived from the original on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  2. ↑ Quick, Will (14 February 2024). "7 mobile games that you can beat in an hour or less". Pocket Gamer . Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Chan, Christine (31 August 2017). "Take Flight as Cat Bird in This Charming Platformer". AppAdvice. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  4. 1 2 Croce, Diana (26 January 2023). "The 10 Best Mobile Platformers". Game Rant . Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  5. ↑ Grannell, Craig (9 February 2023). "The best free iPad games 2023". TechRadar . Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  6. 1 2 Valentin, Christian (24 August 2017). "Cat Bird's precision platforming glides onto the App Store". Pocket Gamer . Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Allen, Jennifer (29 August 2017). "Cat Bird! Review: Flying Furry". Gamezebo . Archived from the original on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nelson, Jared (25 August 2017). "TouchArcade Game of the Week: 'Cat Bird'". TouchArcade . Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  9. 1 2 Lazarides, Tasos (13 October 2017). "'Cat Bird' Update Will Add New World, New Boss, and More". TouchArcade . Archived from the original on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  10. ↑ Famularo, Jessica (29 August 2017). "Cat Bird beginner's guide – How to make your way back home". 148apps. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  11. ↑ Nelson, Jared (24 January 2019). "'Boost Buddies' is a Twitchy Arcade Game from the Maker of 'Cat Bird', Coming February 14th". TouchArcade . Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  12. ↑ "Rayumi Inc". Rayumi.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  13. 1 2 "Interview with Ryan Carag about Cat Bird". Indie Zoom. 6 September 2017. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  14. ↑ "Jump as a cat, fly as a bird, and try to complete retro inspired platformer levels". AppAdvice. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  15. ↑ Nelson, Jared (8 August 2017). "Natural Enemies Become One in Adorable Platformer 'Cat Bird', Coming August 24th". TouchArcade . Archived from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  16. ↑ Hodapp, Eli (23 August 2017). "Out Now: 'Radiation City', 'Cat Bird', 'Bertram Fiddle Episode 2', 'Shadow Fight 2 Special Edition', 'Bust-A-Move Journey', 'Little Red Lie', 'Swipe Manager: Soccer', 'Unbalance' and More". TouchArcade . Archived from the original on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 James, James (25 August 2017). "Cat Bird review – Do we need another mobile pixel platformer?". Pocket Gamer . Archived from the original on 28 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  18. ↑ Mesesan, Cristina (8 October 2021). "Top 15 best 2D platformers for Android". Pocket Gamer . Archived from the original on 1 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
    Mesesan, Cristina (11 October 2021). "Top 15 best 2D platformers for iOS". Pocket Gamer . Archived from the original on 1 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  19. ↑ Hodapp, Eli (12 July 2018). "Best iPhone Games of 2017: Top 100 iOS Games Buyer's Guide". TouchArcade . Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  20. ↑ "Cat Bird". Sensor Tower. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
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