King Oddball for PS4 review

King OddBall is not particularly odd. We’ve all been gaming many years now to realise that it is very hard to come across something that is truly odd. Saying that, King OddBall wants to wreak havoc on the world using his only weapon of choice, his tongue.

It’s a tongue that Gene Simmons from Kiss would be jealous of. Maybe if he also had the lips of legendary Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, we would have something truly odd on our hands. Nevertheless, 10tons first PlayStation 4 release comes rolling down the physics puzzle path of destruction with aplomb and lands firmly on PlayStation 4 soil.

Forget ordering your people into battle for you or forced national service. This is King Oddball you’re dealing with, and he does things slightly different. Gaining momentum with his tongue, he has the power to lick up rocks and release them causing mass destruction upon the world. King Oddball stares down from the skies centre stage with tanks, solders and exploding crates lining the terrain.

Oddball’s tongue swings back and forth and with rock in tongue, he can rid the screen of enemies with a well timed blow. It’s a concept you’re familiar with, but somehow this little game has an air of freshness to it which is part of its appeal. Maybe it’s the school jotter book drawings. You know the ones, the kid at school that was rather handy with a pencil would do them. Or maybe it’s the fact that there are 120 levels to plough through, all throwing up slightly different level designs and cleverly positioned troops to smash.

King Oddball only has 3 rocks to complete each level. These must be used to clear the screen of whatever lays below. At times, King Oddball can display clever skills. Having the ability to bounce rocks off tanks, bouncing balls and then being able to catch the rock is a rather neat skill and one trick which you’ll need to perform. On your war path you open up different sections of your battle map and here there are hidden levels, that aren’t really hidden – you’ll just need to complete a lot of levels to gain access to them.

Here lie different challenges; one being the One Rock Challenge, where instead of starting with your usual 3 rocks, only a single rock is handed to you. Your catching skills are required in abundance here. These ‘one rock’ levels can only be completed by either catching your throw rock or by destroying three enemies with a single rock. If you achieve this, King Oddball is rewarded with one more go. These little added levels certainly break up the game and definitely offer a different thought process.

Conclusion

A pretty fine puzzler and one of PlayStation 4?s cheapest games on the PSN. Whether it’s an Angry Bird or an Odd King, at this price I know which I would head for.

Lizard rating: 7/10