Dogs may be crowned “man’s best friend,” but when
an invasion of mutated rats come out to play on Earth, the Scratch Cats, a team of
forgettable felines, rise to the prowl when the rat leaders snatch one of their own.Player’s take control of one of the six members (with two unlockable when the game is completed) of the Scratch Cats, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and attitude. The role of the rats is to demolish every last object that they can gnaw their teeth into, leaving nothing but landfills to the Earth’s dismay.
Rat Attack prances through some of the most uninspired level concepts in the world of gaming. A garden, a haunted house, a temple, the only theme missing is a snow stage. What is not an uninspired concept is the gameplay. Armed with an expandable electrical net for trapping rodents, it’s up to players in each round to capture the required amount of rats and reach the transportation pad unscathed, sending the mutated pests packing before the room is uprooted or before the time runs out.
With enough
already conspiring against you, specifically colored scum are capable of summoning
sometimes indestructible plagues when their own pads are activated. Effective power ups
are abundant for counter clawing the vile varmints, as well as the ability to slash,
stunning critters for a short period and making them vulnerable to capture. Like a sly
cat, Rat Attack is all about pace and reflex. As the rounds progress, the number
of rats to capture goes up, the clock winds down, the plagues get nastier, and the rats
get craftier. Decisively, the game doesn’t get more endearing.
Blocky designs and colorful textures catwalk hand and hand, almost giving the empty
environments that rare eye-candy appeal. As the graphics purr for attention, there is
nothing for the eyes to cling to. Mutated rodents possess a choppy two-dimensional look,
but the N64’s trademark blur and fogginess have been completely aired out of this
game.
Tight controls are hazardously affixed to lazy camera angles. Placed at an overhead view,
the camera has an unsupportive habit of zooming in and out when least essential. Once two
or more players join the mouse hunt, the camera suspends too high to keep up with all the
motion, creating a workout for the eyes and exterminating the entertainment when the
screen becomes clustered with rats. Collision detection is sharply sensitive, slashing is
trial and error, and colliding with one rat will usually ricochet you into another. Since
the learning curve is slim, the difficulty resides with these camera and collision issues.
The soundtrack energetically rattles off a range of franticness and mellowness that is
deeply reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoon fare. Though it slinks graciously with the
graphics, for most its redundancy will loom thin on the ears. Rat squeaks are generally
overused and the sound effects of environmental hazards, such as lawnmowers and vacuums,
are kept to a minimum.
As great as it is not having another N64 title meet the mousetrap, Rat Attack’s
innovative concept simply grows moldy, and the camera isn’t entirely at fault. Even
if it’s a worthwhile game of rodent roundup for puzzlers, it’s hard to
comprehend where all those years of development shenanigans went for such a nonaddictive
and overly simplified game that doesn’t come remotely close to piercing the
system’s hardware limitations.
