Introduction
Dadish is a retro inspired platformer that was developed by indie creator Thomas K Young. It saw an initial release in February 2020, with subsequent releases on PC and Consoles being staggered through 2020 and 2021.
Video Review
Review
Dadish is deciding to have a nice peaceful nap one day when suddenly all of his children leave the house and go missing. So he has to wake up and explore the world, to find, in his own words, “his stupid children”. This sets the precedence for the game and there’s quite a few laughs and challenging platforming that I was not ready for when I started.
At the end of every level when you find one of your long lost radish children, you get a funny one liner about something absolutely random, which I loved. Especially with being a father myself, I could feel Dadishs’ pain, because these are easily conversations I’d have with my own child. At the end of one level, one of the children says they’re enjoying their day at the beach…even though they’re on a frozen mountain. I had a good little laugh about that one. It felt organic, and pure, as if the creator had a child themselves.
The game consists of about 50 short and sweet levels. None took longer than 5 minutes, depending how many times I died I suppose, and we’re all fun in their own right. At first the levels were super simple and I was blasting through them. Eventually they added little stars you could get for extra challenges, and more traps and dangers you needed to avoid. I loved this, as it actually really tested my platforming skills and wasn’t completely mindless. Some levels that are quite challenging also have a checkpoint in them, which will really save you as you die and die again trying to get past the next obstacle.
At the end of each of the five worlds, there is a boss that you have to beat. Each of these bosses are all silly fast food items, like pizza, or burgers, or even fries. They all prattle on about how they’re the henchman of the big bad boy, and here you are, a radish, just trying to find his children so he can ground them. Oh how it must feel to be beaten by a radish. Some of these fights were honestly a bit annoying though, as most of them required me to hit a button, which caused a trap to be activated, which I had to hope would actually hit the boss. It wasn’t skill dependent at all, I just had to actually worry about staying alive. Though the consistency of hits is off for the bosses. Some took 3 hits to kill, some took 4. It was all weird.
The one thing I didn’t really like, is that the game has a cute, but simple, world map to it. You wouldn’t know that there was a world map though if you beat it all in one sitting, because once you beat a level, you’re automatically in the next. I found myself sometimes quitting levels just to see the straight line that I was advancing on. I will say it was awesome that there were Super Mario Bros 3 sound effects and Kirby effects in the game too. I noticed the noise when I started or beat a level. It helped really push the feeling of nostalgia that the creator was pushing for. Unless I’m crazy and it wasn’t a nostalgia push and they just liked the noises.
Rating
Pros:
- Challenging Platforming
- Conversations With Children Felt Real
- Sound Effects
Cons:
- Never See The World Map
- Boss Health Felt Inconsistent
Summary
I really enjoyed this little platformer. It wasn’t too deep, and it wasn’t too serious for itself. Though it could’ve had a few more mechanics thrown into it, and a better world map, this was a good little entry to a hopefully fun little series. Plus it’s short!
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Game & Developer Information
Developer Website: Thomas K Young
Developer Socials: Twitter
Publisher Website: CatCup Games
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