As PCGamesN’s resident Sonic the Hedgehog fan, I’d had my eye on Rollin’ Rascal. A high-speed 3D platformer based on momentum and bright, colorful landscapes to run through, just glancing at it will prove that it’s inspired by Sega’s mascot. Even with just one full level and an inventive multiplayer offering though, the Rollin’ Rascal Steam Next Fest demo is one you should try for yourself.
With its Kickstarter campaign already met and a series of stretch goals on the horizon, Rollin’ Rascal is a 3D platform game that understands the assignment. It’s got the spin dash, rail grinding, and homing attack of 3D Sonic, but it also brings an incredibly sleek sense of style, multiplayer, and an enemy possession system to the table.
Rollin’ Rascal just feels so excellent to play, and it was this sense of movement and use of momentum that drew me in. This is then used in semi-open levels that focus on letting you express yourself, and how you best use the movement mechanics, in a number of different ways. It’s not open-world by any stretch, but there are more often than not multiple routes to take and secrets to find that test your understanding of the game’s movement mechanics.
It’s often easy to say platformers like this would benefit from in-depth momentum mechanics, but from what I played of Rollin’ Rascal’s Steam Next Fest demo, it does momentum right. You’re incredibly quick to speed up on slopes, and you can shift between ball and running form to keep the momentum up as much as possible.
What sets Rollin’ Rascal truly apart then is what it adds to platformers like Sonic the Hedgehog. You can dive into opponents and use their abilities for yourself like ultra-fast racecar-style enemies, or brawlers for combat. The feature has a Crash of the Titan’s quality to it, and I found it to be a nice wrinkle in the platforming. There’s also a multiplayer feature that feels like Fall Guys meets GTA 5 online races, and I think that’ll be what keeps Rollin’ Rascal alive after launch.
You can find the Rollin’ Rascal demo right here as part of Steam Next Fest, with the Kickstarter also sharing even more about the game.
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