Candy Rangers Reviews
The whole experience is buttery smooth and pretty snappy. This is a unique rail-shooter with a lot of legitimately new ideas that I've never seen elsewhere. There are some mild colorblindness issues to be aware of if that is relevant to you, and now and then progression feels a little padded, but it is hard to complain too much when Candy Rangers is doing so many new things and doing them well.
A rough early game and poor first impression hide a true gem filled with clever level designs. It would be a true pity to judge Candy Rangers by its first hour of gameplay, but due to how brutal the first hour is with required hidden collectibles and a steep learning curve, anyone but a full-blooded masochist would not be blamed for putting it down before getting to the good part. However, if there is one message that should be remembered from this review, it is this: the good part is coming soon, and it is truly worth the rough journey there. Give Candy Rangers a try; it is one of the more innovative games in its genre, and once mastered, the foreign controls will become second nature.
Candy Rangers is a challenging on-rails shooter that has you controlling a team of four characters at the same time once you get used to the controls.
Candy Rangers is, at its heart, a sugar-coated arcade throwback. It takes a genre that’s often seen as niche or outdated and injects it with colour and plenty of personality. Yes, it can be overwhelming at first, and yes, you’ll probably have to replay a stage or two, but the cheerful vibe and satisfying mechanics make it a delight to dip into. It’s not the kind of game that’s going to change your life, but it is the kind of game that can brighten your evening. Sometimes, that’s more than enough. I walked away from it smiling every single time, and really, that’s the best thing you can ask for from a game like this. A welcome addition to the often overlooked cute ’em up sub genre. A free demo is also available on Steam.
Candy Rangers is a visually charming game with interesting mechanics for the rail shooter genre. Its colorful atmosphere, combined with a lively soundtrack, creates an engaging initial experience. However, the requirement to collect tokens to advance compromises the fluidity of progression, making the journey more repetitive than it should be. Despite this, it still delivers fun and a challenge, especially for those who enjoy overcoming obstacles perfectly.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Candy Rangers is a competent time killer, with a very attractive art style, riding the low-poly trend that seems to have become a favorite among indie developers instead of pixel art. It's a game that, I believe, only makes sense in handheld mode, given the short length of the levels and the amount of information available at once. At the same time, I miss motion controls or the inclusion of mouse controls for Switch 2 and Switch users.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Candy Rangers falls solidly in the middle when it comes to on rails shooters. It’s got plenty to do and it’s inventive in the execution, which kept me locked in for exciting fights and the arcade mode. But needing to repeat myself simply to justify the lack of margins of error was exhausting and, frankly, unfun. I’d much rather do a level again because it was thrilling or because I want to challenge myself, not because the game won’t let me go out to play until I clean my plate.
During the best of times, it felt like a game that was a school project. At some of the worst times, it felt like a game that I’m not sure who it was made for. Maybe there is a subset of gamers that really enjoy on the rail gun games, or maybe those who just want a very quick shooter. Either way, in a year that has been incredibly competitive with games unfortunately Candy Rangers does not rank highly.
Candy Rangers is a textbook example of how a classic genre can be revived. The combination of a clever color system, creative enemies, and small bits of freedom makes it a fun experience. At the same time, the feeling that there could have been more lingers. The quick introduction of all the mechanics and the lack of real progression mean the game is already over after twenty levels. But perhaps that's the best compliment you can give a short-lived game like this: I want to see more. More levels, more enemies, more crazy twists. And if a game leaves you with that feeling, it's done its job well.
Review in Dutch | Read full review