A Thinker in Space

For more information about this series, please see the introductory article here.

Another Shockwave find (my next one will be from something different I promise) – Tasty Planet dropped in 2006 (beginning as a flash game), and we played it likely in 2008/2009. This one was very popular in my household, at least between my brother and I, and we still will occasionally reference this game because of how much we enjoyed it. Booting it up again was a bit surreal, as I have not played this one in a bit (it was harder to hunt down than some of the others in this list for a long time). It took me around 3 hours from beginning to end to beat this game (including perhaps some pause time) between two days, though I did not go the completionist route here.

The Game

The concept behind Tasty Planet is ridiculous, and so is everything about the game itself. Two scientists have created an automatic bathroom cleaner – a small goo that will consume bacteria. Unfortunately, this goo escapes, which spells doom for all mankind (this isn’t really a spoiler as the game has pictures of the different “worlds” you will play through and the last one is a galaxy). Gameplay-wise, this is what has been referred to as an eat-and-grow game – it is level based, and you start off small. As you eat things around you, you grow larger and larger, able to eat more and more until the level ends. I believe it likely that Tasty Planet was at least somewhat inspired by Katamari Damacy, which had released just two years beforehand and had the same thematic juxtaposition as Tasty Planet (which I will mention later on).

Moving your mouse across the screen, you hunt for things smaller than you to consume. Levels give you a timer that can range from 30 seconds to 7 minutes, and you are awarded bronze, silver, and gold medals depending on how long it takes you to win. Your goal is to reach a certain size – once that size is reached, the blob yells a cry of “Oompa!” and you are congratulated on finishing the level. There are 60 levels total, and they are decently balanced in difficulty and challenge scaling (much moreso than Snail Mail, the previous Deep Cut). This game is not challenging – it is relatively easy, but the game remains fun for the entire time (mostly) which is what matters significantly more to me than difficulty.

There are also two additional modes – casual mode (no timer) and Endurance (three different long-form time trial style levels – not sure why time trials were so popular in these types of games for this era of gaming). I toyed around with both of these modes for writing this review and found them unremarkable/unnecessary after beating the core campaign.

Does it hold up?

Absolutely. But let’s break this down a bit, starting off with gameplay. Nowadays, millions of gamers have experienced this eat-and-grow genre through Agar.io – the most popular version of this style. There are a few others that have used this mechanic, such as Spore, Donut County, and Katamari Damacy, but Agar.io is the one that comes to mind first for most casual gamers nowadays. However, while Agar.io is multiplayer, the other mentioned games are singleplayer campaign-style games, like Tasty Planet. This style of game remains a lot of fun, and still feels pretty original.

There are definitely some hiccups – some levels go on for way too long, which can be unnecessarily tedious. Earlier long levels are annoying because you can eat everything on the screen but your mass is moving up waaaay too slowly, and later levels are frustrating because if anything bigger than you touches you, you die (a mechanic that adds satisfying challenge until you die 5min in to a 7min level, and then it turns to rage). This issue doesn’t do a ton to take away from the game’s quality however, as the game does not overstay its welcome. It stays enjoyable throughout its 60-level run, and keeps you interested in what you will be eating next.

Earlier in the article, I mentioned that there is a juxtaposition featured here, and I think this is one of the most enjoyable parts of this game for me. In this game, you are a monster who is eating everything in its path, continuing to grow unendingly.

Because of this, there are multiple levels where you are eating humans (who shout and then disappear into your mass) and houses, escalating into larger and larger things as the game goes on. However, instead of focusing on the fact that you are a hungry all-consuming entity with no regard for human life, instead the game has a cutesy cartoon feel, with chill jazz music in the background (this game’s soundtrack has been eternally stuck in my head for 15+ years) punctuated by shouts of “yum-yum!” from your happy blob as he continues to eat. It had excellent theming, and this played to its benefit significantly since most levels are baaasically the same thing repeated from the previous level.

The best song on the soundtrack.

Accessibility

With a recent release on Steam, Tasty Planet is now super easy to play (and goes on sale frequently). When researching for this list, I was shocked to find it on Steam, and immediately picked up this game and its sequel, as well as a third game I didn’t even know existed until now! I will be playing through and reviewing both of them later on in this series. The Steam release is a remaster, but you can turn on classic graphics (which I did for the entirety of my playthrough and never looked back).

Final Thoughts

Nostalgia glasses can be painful to remove. I just recently had an experience where I replayed through a game I loved the first time, and realized that it was… not good. That is a risk you run when writing a series like this – some things might be best left within the recesses of your memory. It is always satisfying to take off the nostalgia glasses and see that the game looks exactly the same now as you did with them on, and Tasty Planet certainly fell into that category. This will not go down in history as one of my favorite games I’ve ever played or one of the best games of all time, but it will be a game I will return to and enjoy playing again. It is not just nostalgic, it is genuinely fun, and I am looking forward to continuing into Tasty Planet: Back for Seconds and Tasty Planet Forever.

(Underrated Games #8)

Recommended for Younger Players?

The gameplay is very accessible, and the charm of Tasty Planet is obvious from the start. However, the massive quantities of people you eat might give parents pause, though it is very innocuous and SPOILER does not end up resulting in any actual casualties.

Verdict: Yes (Conditionally)

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