Whether you played it on old game consoles or early cell phones, most people are familiar with the simple game Snake or any of its variants. But what if you added enemies and bullet hell shooter elements to the concept? Well you’d get Mechaconda. The nefarious Dr. Evil has taken over four planets and it’s up to you and your mechanical snake to stop him. Mechaconda is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Just like Snake, all you can really do is move in four directions in top down viewed fashion. If you go off the edge of the screen, you appear on the other side in wraparound form (think Pac-Man’s warp tunnels). If you get hit by an enemy or bullet, all your snake parts will be tossed about, and if you get hit again without any of those parts you’ll explode and the game will be over. Press one button to fire your shots and the other button lets you jump over obstacles, although it’s easier just to avoid them.
As you complete waves, you’ll be able to choose a different part to add onto your snake. Some are turrets that let you fire extra shots or other weapons, and some affect movement like extra speed and some let you take more hits. There are three modes of play. Campaign is the main story mode where you go through set stages. Roguelike has random stages and Boss Rush is self explanatory. My main problem with this game is that it’s WAY too hard. There’s so much going on and it’s hard to avoid things when you go so slow and have to rely on random cards to speed you up. This game needs a difficulty selection or something.
Kid Factor:
If you or the enemies get hit, they just explode and that’s it. Reading skill is helpful for the text, and younger gamers may find it too difficult. Mechaconda is rated E for Everyone.
