I’ll be frank, it’s hard to know where to start with Super Phantom Cat 2. It was originally released on mobile in 2017 after the first title—Super Phantom Cat—received the honor of being featured in the App Store’s “Best of 2016” list. The team brought Super Phantom Cat 2 to PAX East to showcase the game’s arrival on Nintendo Switch this coming summer, and to let us all know about the new Hello Kitty content.
What makes Super Phantom Cat 2 special? Er… well, if you like platformers, you’ll probably enjoy this, though it’s not a surprise that it started (and primarily functions as) a mobile title. It has strong elements of Super Mario, some Sonic the Hedgehog mechanics, and a whole heaping amount of “generic platformer” stylization.
We’re not trying to be harsh, that’s not the intention. However, this is an arcade-style retro platformer that doesn’t really stand out among all the other retro platformers that have appeared on the scene in the past five years, all trying to capture a slice of the nostalgia pie.
Players navigate the levels while unlocking new heroes, collecting items, finding secrets… there’s nothing new. Honestly. There’s a new story, if you’re into that with your platformer, and there’s a Global Leaderboard, if you’re into that too. The art style is creepy-cute, which some people love and which will appeal to a certain subset of gamers, and fans of Hello Kitty will be thrilled to have that content.
We’re not saying it’s bad. We’re not saying it’s particularly good, either. What we experienced was your average “pass the time in line in the grocery store” mobile game, though it’d probably make a fun little family-gaming-night title to play with the kids. And there’s definitely space for that in the market, so with all said and done… yeah, it’s good this game exists. Check it out if it’s your jam.
