Are you looking for a game to entertain the kids at a party? Maybe you’re trying to find something that is both fun and age-appropriate. Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story is a great game for younger tweens, and older kids with a lot of great humor.
The game was developed by Katsu Entertainment and published by indie publisher Hound Picked Games.
Controls are pretty basic. Hold one button to shoot, and another to drop bombs. Enemies will appear in either moving planes, vehicles on the ground, or in large mecha-like contraptions/large battle machines for the end of a level boss battle.
There are also several modes to choose from. You can tweak the difficulty, speed, number of lives and even play with others. Multiplayer doesn’t change the story or overall experience. Just the same level, but with someone else. While multiplayer doesn’t change the overall experience, it is interesting to see multiplayer in a game like this, as it isn’t very common. Co-op surely adds to the value of this family game, as family members or friends can play along on the same console.
Visually, the game is pretty good. If I were to take a snapshot of the game and only judge it based on that, I’d say it is perfect. However, design-wise there are some issues.
For example, when you’re playing as the green plane, there are levels where the backgrounds are a similar share of green. This isn’t a problem for most people, but if you’re trying to play the game on a faster mode or higher difficulty, it is easy to lose sight of where your character is amongst the bullets, background, and enemies. This problem is especially big for color-blind players. Adding more contrast between players and backgrounds would help a lot.
Another example is the health bar. It is very small and only shows up when you’re hit. It would be more helpful to have the health in a meter next to the character’s face, but instead, there is a meter showing power-ups. This design choice makes it difficult to know how many more hits you can take before you start to crash.
The music is pretty stellar, however, there isn’t much of a variety to it. The same song is played over and over again, and while the song is good, it would be nice to mix it up here and there. By not having a more diverse soundtrack, there isn’t a good mood established. It would be nice to have music amp up at certain parts and be more chill at others.
Storywise, the game has a lot going for it. It is silly enough to appeal to kids, but logical enough to make sense within the game. Dogfight opens up some lore about the world the game takes place in. Sausage eaters and veggie lovers are at war, and it is getting messy. You then pick a character to play as and begin the counterstrike. As you play, you take more territories from the veggie-loving enemies.
The story has just enough silliness to keep you engaged in the story without it being too absurd. Dialogue between the bosses toward the end of the level is also pretty funny with a Team Rocket from Pokemon vibe to them.
Overall, while it isn’t something I would buy for myself or play again, I can see a younger audience being drawn into a game like this. The humor is good, yet tame. The gameplay is easy enough for younger kids with the ability to customize difficulty for older ages or as you get used to the game.
Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story
$17.99
Pros
- Fun story
- Great for kids
Cons
- Planes blend into the background too easily
- Game is short
