Indie Game Review: Chao Resort Island
Chao Resort Island has brought back a lot of memories for me. I didn’t have a Game Boy Advanced growing up so I often emulated games on an emulator called Visual-boy. I’ve never really been a huge Sonic fan, but I did sink hours into raising Chao. I would only go collect rings in levels for the purpose of buying food and toys for my little blue boys.
I think the fact there are other people out there who hold the same love for Chao Garden as I did is heartwarming during this unfortunate lock-in most of us find ourselves in. I believe escaping to an island full of cute little blue dudes is pretty much what everyone needs right now.
On the technical side of things everything is very simple in the best kind of way. The mini games one can play to gain points to spend on fruit, toys and Chao eggs are perfectly suited to the laid back atmosphere the game presents. I haven’t played very far, but I’m already enjoying myself and haven’t checked Twitter in over an hour.
I’m also very excited to hoard enough points to start dressing my Chao up in the plethora of clothing offered in the resort’s store. There are quite a few things to choose from within the menus. I went into the game assuming it would be more bare bones than it is but was pleasantly surprised instead. I’m planning on saving up for a pair of glasses and a baseball cap first. I want to place them on my Chao with a high flying stat named Jesper.
There seems to be even more things to unlock during game progression so I don’t have a low down just yet on how much content there is packed into Chao Resort Island. For a free game there is far more than one would expect already. It’s incredibly admirable to see how smoothly it runs everything as well. One would swear it was an official game if they didn’t know any better.
I might not know too much about Sonic, but I feel as though Sonic fans might have a better idea of what makes a good Sonic game; then the people currently running it into the ground over at Sega. I almost feel like I’ve missed out. I wish I’d grown up with the same fervor for this franchise as other folks. The community is so strong and diverse that it’s hard to ignore them.
The last thing that can be said about this game is that it’s absolutely beautiful. It’s simple art-style mimics that of Sonic games before it. The art is incredibly —complimentary to the laid back game-play. As soon as I bought the Toy Trumpet in the resort shop I knew I was in for a nostalgia trip of a game. There are definitely some visual updates that the old games would have never had, but that really only adds to the charm. Chao Resort Island is truly bright and vibrant on every screen.
I’m having an incredibly fun time with Chao Resort Island during this unfortunate outbreak and hope to continue to do so when it’s over. I highly recommend it to anyone stuck at home right now.
GAME’S TWITTER: https://twitter.com/chaorisland
GAME LINK: https://nefault1st.wordpress.com/downloads/chao-resort-island/
