Didn’t get to experience Mutant Mudds on the 3DS? Hankering for some buttery smooth platforming on a larger screen? Then you’re in luck! Today is the day that the PC port of Renegade Kid’s golden child hits digital distribution channels the web over.
From now through September 5, you can purchase the game on GOG.com, GamersGate, Desura, or Renegade Kid’s own site for $7.99. If you miss that window, you’ll have to dish out $9.99. And if you would rather that Valve got off its ass and allow Mutant Mudds on Steam, you have a chance to make your voice heard through the new Steam Greenlight initiative.
If you’ve played the eShop original, you’re experience here will be more or less identical experience here, minus the stereoscopic 3D. Well … not considering the 20 extra levels, either! I recently played through a pre-release build to get a feel for the tasty new content, so I’d like to share some quick impressions.
In the original game, Max is able to purchase three power-ups that strengthen his water cannon, increase the duration of his jet pack’s hover mode, and grant him a super jump. You can only equip one of these power-ups at a time; however, by unlocking and selecting Max’s Grannie as a playable character, you gain access to all three augmentations at once.
Grannie is quite powerful indeed, but by the time she’s made available, you’ll have already done everything the game has to to offer. For this reason, the 20 new levels in the PC port can only be accessed using a combination of Grannie’s three enhanced abilities, giving players an incentive to continue playing after obtaining the last diamond.
The bonus levels from the 3DS version, if you recall, are accessed via special doors scattered throughout the main areas. In a nod to the game’s handheld precursors, these rooms have color schemes that mimic those of the Game Boy and Virtual Boy. In my previous story on the PC port, I mistakenly said these areas had been removed, but they are still here.
The Grannie-exclusive levels are similarly accessed via doors, only these take you to CGA-themed zones in honor of the game’s cushy new PC digs. These zones likewise demand precision platforming and mastery over Grannie’s expanded repertoire. Spikes are scattered just everywhere, and you will die over and over and over again. Not that I would have it any other way! If you’ve made it through the first 40 levels, the extra 20 better test your manhood (or Grannie-hood).
There are no major rewards for clearing the new levels, although you do earn some shiny badges, mementos of your badass technical skill, that are displayed in Grannie’s attic. But it’s not about the destination — it’s about the journey. And in a game that is all about perfecting the basics, more “journey” is not a bad thing.
Should you download Mutant Mudds on PC if you’ve already played the first one? Lemme think … yes! For everyone else, that shouldn’t even be a question.
