Review: Radical Rabbit Stew – PS4

In a tribute to games from an older era, Radical Rabbit Stew packs bite-size gameplay, local multiplayer, and a level designer into a small package. The singleplayer part of the game doesn’t last long, but it’s more than the sum of its parts and is a good experience for anyone with family-friendly gameplay.
It’s an arcade game, so the story is very minimal. The chefs at a famous space diner are kidnapped by an evil bunny queen. As the cleaning boy, you hid and avoided capture. Recently armed with a wooden spoon, you vow to free your friends. It’s plenty of setup for the game, and it’s nicely done.
The entire game is split into three hub areas filled with many levels. Some of the levels, especially the early ones, can be completed very quickly. This gives you a jump-in jump-out style of gameplay that’s perfect for when you only have a few minutes. Some are only one screen, but later levels span multiple screens.
Each level is a puzzle where the goal is to knock rabbits into giant stew pots that blast off. As you play, you start with only a wooden spoon, but you’ll gain extra hearts and new tools, including other spoons that each perform a specific function. Combining these will be key to creating paths, using the level layout, and defending yourself to reach your goal. There are some clever solutions and traps for the unwary.

Don’t be fooled by the easy beginning. Those levels become increasingly longer and harder as you move towards the end. You can even turn on a hardcore difficulty if it still seems too easy. To further challenge you, each level will contain at least one blue coin to collect. They are not necessary to beat the level, and they won’t be easy to grab.
Each area will also contain a mini-boss and area boss to keep you on your toes. They are normally huge and are a big step up in difficulty to test your abilities. Sometimes it feels like beating a boss is as much random chance as skill, but it’s still satisfying to reach the end.
As I mentioned, the singleplayer part of the game will not last very long. There are even trophies for beating the game in two hours and one hour. Fortunately, there are two other places to spend your time. Versus gives you four different stages to play with up to four people. The goal is to score the most points by knocking the most rabbits into a giant stew pot in a limited time. There are obstacles, including other players who can whack you with their spoons. I played it with my young son, and it was fun.
For the creative among you, there is a level designer for you to create your devious designs. It’s easy to use, and there are so many options for you to create and play. The levels can be saved to tweak and perfect, and, for a short game, it can extend your enjoyment.

The visuals and music are very retro-inspired with pixelated art and an electronic sound. It’s a good presentation with plenty of little touches, and my kids laughed to see a rabbit shaking its tail at me or burping me out of a level when I died.
Radical Rabbit Stew is a fun game with a cute story that can be enjoyed by anyone looking for a light puzzler with arcade action. Its levels let you pop in and out of gameplay quickly, which only adds to the pull to jump back into a level you just failed. It won’t last long, but its combination of features and charm makes it very enjoyable.

Radical Rabbit Stew PS4 Review

• 7.5/10
  Overall - Very Good - 7.5/10

7.5/10

Summary

Radical Rabbit Stew is proudly retro in both its looks and sound. With its arcade feel and light puzzle solving, it can be a lot of fun for both adults and young kids, and, even though it’s a shorter game, the versus mode and the level designer will give you a little more mileage after the singleplayer is done. If you want bite-size fun, you’ll find it here.