Villordsutch reviews Coffin Dodgers…
Let’s be honest, everybody wants Mario Kart on their machines. If you’ve experienced Mario Kart at any point in your life and then you’ve left and strayed to another console, no matter how perfect the graphics are on your new shiny box you can’t help but want a some form of Mario Kart sat upon the dashboard of your machine. Well from Milky Tea and Wales Interactive comes Coffin Dodgers and hopefully this might just occupy that vacant gaming gap.
Taking on the role of a resident of Sunny Pines Retirement Community, you need to take part in a Championship race against seven other residents – and Death himself – across four different locations combining thirteen races in total. With a variety of pick-up weapons, cash to earn to upgrade your mobility scooter and also a “Road Rash” attack system in which you can wallop your opposition as you pass, from the opening appearance it comes across as a blast of pure fun.
My first start on Coffin Dodgers was within the Multiplayer mode. Milky Tea have brought in a 2-4 player split screen option, which increases the entertainment value, as part and parcel of this style of game requires the involvement of friends and family members.
Everything within the first few games of two player mode seems to be quite fantastic, it’s however when you get stuck into the Single-Player Story Mode do you unfortunately start to see the cracks in Coffin Dodgers.
The most glaring of these fall to the graphics and sound of the game. I know the current trend is the hugging of a classic retro look, however Coffin Dodgers doesn’t feel like it’s be purposely created to be retro; it plays like it’s been compacted too much. The whole appearance of the game feels as if it has arrived from the early 2000’s – one that would have looked great on the PS2. Tracks feel small and uninspired, characters look oddly crafted and the ragdoll effect applied to the said characters is bizarre to frustratingly awful.
As for the sound, taking into account the grating looping soundtrack which doesn’t span the length of a standard race – you can hear the gap when it loops – we also have some rather poor sound-effects including a dire laughing noise emanating from Death at the end of each stage; again this all adds to the aging of the game.
Single-Player racing is the usual affair of collecting coins to improve your scooter. There is a nice feature of those that finish at the bottom of the board by the end of the stage are removed from the race, however once you’ve improved your scooter you’re practically unstoppable – unless of course if you take your eye of the ball then instantly all the other players overtake you and you are going to lose. Here again when you’ve completed the Single-Player mission you’re granted the chance to play as the character Death. It’s at this point you become virtually invincible as your scythe can remove nearly all players in your path, you’ll soon be netting all the gold trophies for your PSN profile. This may sound brilliant but it’s rather dull and feels very paint by numbers.
With other oddities like the numerous zombies roaming the streets, UFOs in the farms and the odd story of a string of Deaths being in league with the Mayor of the town, the Single-Player Campaign really isn’t the selling point of Coffin Dodgers.
However, returning later to the multiplayer and these elements mentioned are practically erased. This game once again becomes fun as you spend more time attempting to knock seven bells out of each other. It’s a shame the tracks are longer so you can really take the time to punish each other.
Coffin Dodgers in multiplayer mode is enjoyable,and the Road Rash elements and weaponry give you the power to inflict damage against friends and family. However, stepping into the Single-Player story mode you rapidly realise this budget kart game is just that and the issues mentioned above are numerous weights around its neck.
Rating: 6/10
Coffin Dodgers is available to buy from the PlayStation Store here.
Originally published May 11, 2016. Updated June 30, 2023.
