KinnikuNeko: SUPER MUSCLE CAT Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch & PC)

I imagine the folks who chalked up the concept of a bodybuilding cat fighting alien invaders were besides themselves with tears when putting pen to paper and ironing out the details for its side-scrolling beat ‘em up platforming…thing. I, too, am just as confused about it — but oddly intrigued, nonetheless. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, KinnikuNeko: SUPER MUSCLE CAT, if anything, as it not only features a roster of lovable characters and a rainbow-smitten locale, but it also features a brain-buckling sense of uncertainty—a bewildering theme that comprises a variety of weird but wonderful mini-games, and an uneven hook of unpredictable levels and illogical ideas.

To say that it’s a game that you could quite easily decode in a few seconds wouldn’t be true; it’s a hybrid of a classic 90s Japanese anime and an unorthodox platforming game, and therefore, as if to illustrate my earlier point, it’s a mixed bag of unnatural artwork, questionable design choices, and souped-up, albeit chaotic sound effects and flamboyant wizardry. Love it or hate it — KinnikuNeko: SUPER MUSCLE CAT has a bodybuilding cat for a hero, so you know, take it on the chin, I guess.

If you’re still unsure about this peculiar love letter to 90s Japanese anime, then be sure to comb over the following details before exhausting your nine lives to the bench press. And no, I’m not joking about that.

Skipping Cheekbone Day

KinnikuNeko: SUPER MUSCLE CAT is what LSD is to Rainbow Unicorn Attack: a primary ingredient that molts into a strong and effective, albeit staggeringly hallucinogenic fever dream. It’s the sort of game you’d put on to forget the mundaneness of reality—the sort of gig you’d accept after a grueling day at the office. With little to no obligatory work to be done outside of pummeling aliens in the forehead and stringing together nodes of a board to make epic brawling attacks translate into whimsical dance routines, there isn’t a great deal to fret about. No, what KinnikuNeko: SUPER MUSCLE CAT is, if anything, is a weirdly short romp through the quirky collective consciousness of an anime-loving team. It’s an ode to feline friends. It’s a tilt of the hat to Japanese fiction. And it’s a game that, in all honesty, has the potential to make you question everything.

On the one hand, I could quite easily say that KinnikuNeko: SUPER MUSCLE CAT is a game about a cat who fights aliens. But that wouldn’t be an elaborate answer for the copious amounts of questions that orbit its existence. There’s a lot more to this peculiar piece than meets the eye, I’ll say that much. From the moment you step into the human paws (yes, I know, I know) of the titular protagonist, you are given the opportunity to carve through a series of amped-up levels, forge memorable friendships with eccentric characters, and use a combination of cat-like reflexes and the brute strength of a bodybuilder to tackle a multitude of challenges, including street brawls, platforming segments, and mini-games that range from arm wrestling, flexing your muscular arms, and applying iron to said muscles with various bench press exercises. And honestly, that’s barely scratching the surface. *cue long sigh*

Whiskers & Weights

I could probably compare KinnikuNeko: SUPER MUSCLE CAT to Like a Dragon, or just about any Yakuza game in general, for that matter. I say this, because when it boils down to it, you never actually know what it is that you’re doing, much less where you’re going next. But I love that. I love that there’s no formal structure to it, and that, while one segment of the journey can fool you into thinking that the next step is written in stone, the chances of it being anything of the sort begin to disintegrate the further you descend into its cascading spiral of kookiness.

In a single moment, you could be riding a bolt of rainbow-emitting lightning, whereas in another, you could be waxing your cardiovascular health by vaulting over mountainous skyscrapers. And the list goes on, too. Suffice it to say, then, that KinnikuNeko: SUPER MUSCLE CAT isn’t your typical one-note ordeal; it’s a melting pot of one too many components. But it works — my god, it works.

The art style that KinnikuNeko: SUPER MUSCLE CAT opts to take for a spin is a real delight in itself, and not to mention the primary focal point for the game, in general. It’s a little on the bizarre side (who thinks of cats with abs, you know?), but the fact that it just goes with the flow and embraces the wild side is sort of what makes it that much more enjoyable to marvel at.

Flambouyantly Brilliant

To say that the game plays it safe wouldn’t be true, as it does take full advantage of its idiosyncratic charm to devise new ways to keep you hooked and forever second guessing what the next step might look like. Granted, several of its mini-games can be a little simple, but with an accompanying theme that embellishes each trial with wacky humor and cohesive dialogue, it’s also easy to gloss over the simplicity of the core gameplay mechanics and bathe in the small details that it so effortlessly captures.

Of course, there is a story to unravel here, as well as a roster of characters to befriend, quest alongside, and engage in all forms of tomfoolery with. Admittedly, it doesn’t stretch all that far from the usual good-versus-evil formula; it essentially sees the heroic muscle head with whiskers embarking on a level-by-level journey to thwart an alien invasion and save those captured by the globe-trotting species. There are companions, too—Lemon and Keita—who each possess their own brands of witty humor and off-the-cuff dialogue. All of this (and a lot more) comes packaged in a vigorously designed and stupendously detailed treasure trove of creative maps, too, which further enhances the game’s overall appeal, for sure.

Verdict

With thanks to its flamboyant design and unruly progression style, KinnikuNeko: SUPER MUSCLE CAT has become something of a standout timepiece for the platforming genre. It’s an odd one, I’ll give it that, but with a solid base to work from and a hearty amount of unique mini-games, characters, and settings to show for its eccentric nature, it’s also something that’ll likely resonate with folks who enjoy walking on the wild side of the standard sidewalk. It’s like a 90s anime that’s been reborn in an alternate vessel, complete with the traditional mismatched aesthetics and original characters that often flesh out a staple Japanese franchise. If that’s the sort of thing that does it for you, then you’re more than likely going to enjoy riding the wave of weirdness in KinnikuNeko: SUPER MUSCLE CAT.