Were dinosaurs warm-blooded or cold blooded? Was the Troodon capable of evolving a human level of intelligence? Was it a meteor or climate change that finally wiped out the former reptilian lords of the Earth? We may never have definitive answers to these questions. However, Chop Chop Kicker offers indisputable proof that our caveman ancestors punted dinosaurs across miles of primitive landscape for sport. This is fact. Tell your history teacher. You will get an A.
Chop Chop Kicker is a catapult-type game. The caveman dude from Chop Chop Caveman uses his head (literally) to launch a tiny dinosaur into the air. The player must then help the dinosaur stay afloat by directing the critter towards certain wildlife that will give him a boost (and steering him away from wildlife and stationary objects that will hinder his noble flight).
The object of Chop Chop Kicker is to set a record, break it, brag about it through OpenFeint, and buy coins for ability upgrades. It’s not complicated, but you do have an interesting means of controlling the dinosaur’s auto-scrolling adventure: your finger, which takes on the role of a rainbow-striped magic marker that can trace paths for the dinosaur to follow while it’s flying. The marker’s ink depletes rapidly when you use it, so drawing a safe path for miles and miles is not an option. You can, however, trace paths to guide the dino to jellybeans, eggs, and other items that restore the marker’s ink.
Chop Chop Kicker is as easy as pterodactyl pie, though beating your best scores obviously becomes a pretty intense challenge down the road. It’s a fun game to sink into for a few hours thanks in part to its cute presentation. The graphics are clean and cartoony, and you can unlock several different backgrounds once you collect enough coins. The music is catchy, and it fades out randomly to help prevent overexposure. The sound effects are great, too: when you stop drawing a line, the marker “rattles” as if to insinuate that it’s being shaken up. This is just a ridiculously satisfying sound to listen to.
Despite the game’s marker element and the fun sound effects that come with it, Chop Chop Kicker might not have enough content to satisfy you if you’re done with catapult-type games. This is unfortunate because the potential for depth is there. You can buy different dinosaurs and different game backgrounds, but none of them seem to offer much except something new to look at. Even the power-up upgrades aren’t very exciting next to a more rounded catapult game like Fly Kiwi, Fly.
Chop Chop Kicker works well as a distraction, though, and is pleasing enough to burrow into for a little while. Oh, and it also works as a well-researched history lesson on primordial human life. Honest!