Crazy Market (Playstation Vita)

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Kaito-kun
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Crazy Market (Playstation Vita)

Post by Kaito-kun »

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Ever dreamt of working on a supermarket checkout? Of course you haven't! But regardless of that, free to play game "Crazy Market" from French indie developer The Game Atelier will let you play the role of one of two new hires at a supermarket managed by a bizarre moustachioed man. Players start by choosing to play as either the impossibly handsome Eugene or green haired anime reject Lulu after that the goal is to rank up and reach the end of a three month period working at the supermarket.
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Using the Vita's touch screen players grab items from the conveyer belt, wave them over the scanner, then place them back onto the conveyer belt. Scan a specified number of items and the stage is cleared. Sometimes items will need to be scanned more than once, or a 4 digit product code will need to be entered onto the keypad on screen. Over time the belt gets faster and items will drop in random locations on the belt. If an item reaches the end of the belt, or if you drop it, then it's game over and you'll have to retry. To spice things up, occasionally the boss will throw mystery boxes which may help (perhaps a score bonus or maybe the belt slow down) or hinder (the belt may speed or or a pile of new items will be thrown onto the belt) the player. Collectable coins fly across the screen when a chain of successful scans reaches the end of the belt, tapping them will boost your score. Additionally bombs may appear on the belt which have to be thrown aside, and sometimes the babies or pets of customers may accidently end up on the belt and you will have to return them to their owners. As a formula it works well and can be frantic and fun, however the game can struggle to tell which item you are trying to pick up on a crowded belt and it does have the habit of sneaking new items behind items that have already been scanned, a cheap tactic that feels like it was put in deliberately in order to make you fail.

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And make no mistake, the game wants you to fail. Behind it's happy exteriour is a game that wants you to spend money. Stages can only be played or retried if Lulu or Eugene has the energy to work. Energy replenishes itself over time at a rate of one unit per half hour. Alternatively you can buy additional energy with the coins you've earned in game - of course, if you haven't earned enough you can always buy some coins with real money - buying energy will allow you to play a lot more than waiting - energy gained by waiting is limited to 3 units, however, if you buy energy then you can have as much as you want. Power ups are also available to buy if you prefer not to take your chances with the mystery boxes. The game loves to remind you of this by providing a pop-up box whenever you fail a stage. But, this sort of nonsense is expected with the free-to-play concept.
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For all the gripes about the free-to-play side of it Crazy Market is genuinely charming. It knows it's core concept is silly and it runs with it; the bright, colourful art style works perfectly and looks fantastic on the Vita's screen. There are a range of cheerful BGM tracks that play throughout and it's sparse voice acting in the form of shot clips is just enough, with Davy Mourier as the boss shouting "Scaaaaaaaaaa~~~~nnnnn!!!" or "Monay! Monaaaayyyy!!" at the start of a stage being a particular delight. Adding to the silliness, throughout the story there are some insane moments featuring, usually featuring the boss character - a segment midway through an early stage in which the boss insists that you keep working the shop spontaneously combusts had me genuinely laughing out loud.

When it comes down to it, there is a good deal of fun to be had with Crazy Market and as a freebie I would recommend anyone to give it a try, but my main gripe with the game is that it will only allow you to enjoy it for for around 10 minutes at a time before asking you to open your wallet.
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Post by TCB »

Oh boy, a supermarket checkout-simulation game
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Post by Kaito-kun »

TheChaosBlue wrote:Oh boy, a supermarket checkout-simulation game
Hey, someone had to review it. When I first stumbled across it on the PS Store I couldn't find a single review online for it. Might as well help people out when next they search online.
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Post by TCB »

Oh no it's fine; I find it odd that this is an actual price game on the PS Store. Seems more like some browser game you'll find on those flash gaming sites.
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Post by Kaito-kun »

TheChaosBlue wrote:Oh no it's fine; I find it odd that this is an actual price game on the PS Store. Seems more like some browser game you'll find on those flash gaming sites.
Well, the price is free...
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Post by TCB »

Well, how convenient.
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Post by Dr Shaneman »

Well... It must appeal to some people. I'm actually surprised it took this long though.
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Post by Reknoc »

Kaito-kun wrote:"Crazy Market" from French indie developer The Game Atelier
oh so this is what all that cheap dlc clogging the vita psn store is for.
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