Flash Review: Cactus McCoy

So… ever see a cactus beat up a guy? Ever see a cactus beat a guy down with a chicken? Ever have a cactus themed fever dream? No? Then do I have a game for you!

The Legend of the Cactus

This game is insane, or at least the concept is. Though I did kill a guy with a chicken… that might not be a story for here however. Anyway, the story of Cactus McCoy starts out when he gets a big job from, “Boss”, his… boss. I really don’t know much about him other than his extra set of arms and rather man spider like appearance. At this point, Cactus McCoy is just McCoy and not a cactus (don’t worry, insanity sets in soon). McCoy’s big job is to bring ‘Boss’ the Sacred Thorned Emerald. Though there is a curse on the emerald (the Cursed Sacred Thorned Emerald? Can we put more adjectives on that?). Who ever touches the emerald while it is not returned to its true home, will turn into a cactus and eventually… to stone.

The story is kind of insane, but it doesn’t go out of it’s way to be so. It all seems to come naturally from this kind of whimsically serious tone that get’s set in at the beginning, and is only reenforced by the whole western theme. Then it goes back to insane when I’m beating a guy with a cactus, as a cactus, so I can return a cactus gem (“yo dawg”).

I’d describe the game as an action platformer, as well as a little insane. At least it isn’t overbearing with all the insanity, it’s just kind of sitting there, waiting for you to notice it.

Sights and Sounds

This is probably the nicest looking and sounding flash game I’ve reviewed. The animation is pretty tight and flowing, the movement looks fairly natural (as naturally as cactus men can move anyway). The scenery isn’t exactly breathe taking, but it still looks great for a flash game. I don’t mean to sound negative about it, but it does look pretty good. The enemies look good too, I can tell at a glance which enemy is going to pull out a gun and which enemy is the weakest.

The sounds on this game… you wouldn’t expect this kind of quality from a flash game that wasn’t based entirely around sound. The punches kind of sound generic, but you can notice subtle differences with each punch. The swinging weapons sound the same, as do the guns, but at least the quality of the sound is good. The music that plays in the background reminds me of old west movies and games. It get’s a little repetitive, but then again I have trouble thinking of good, non-repetitive, game music that wasn’t played outside of a cut scene.

Overall

This game is really good, I’d figure I’d tell you my opinion before I drift off into the world of cactus heroics. I seriously beat down a guy with cactus as a cactus… and the story? The story is just great. Sure it doesn’t make so much sense as other stories, but it works great with the game. Everything about this game is glazed in insanity… or at least soaked in nonsense. I really enjoyed playing this one. There are 12 levels in all and I kind of want to know how the story ends.

Really I could probably beat this game, and have no problem replaying it every now and again. Heck I even bookmarked the game. The last time I book marked a flash game I was 12 and didn’t have enough of an attention span to pay attention to URLs. Now I know better and I still have this game bookmarked, and if you know better then you should to.

BESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswy

Go fight people with cacti as a cactus at andkon.com