Hail to the Chimp

When the king of the jungle steps down, 10 other animals jockey to fill the political vacuum. There’s no convoluted electoral college here: four candidates compete in 16 contests that revolve around both collecting the clams that pour forth in great abundance from 10 colorful cel-shaded arenas and beating the tar out of your opposition. Send Ptolemy the Hippo’s bulk stomping around stuffing collected mollusks into ballot boxes to rig the vote, help Murgatroyd the Jellyfish sling mud at opponents’ standees, or punch voting machines to pieces with Daisy the Platypus.

Snapping up character ornaments of varying rarity adds an element of collectible addiction, but Hail to the Chimp’s party vibe gets bubbling thanks largely to 15-second partnerships that let players wreak havoc in goofy ways. Tentacles stretch between allies like rubber bands, paired ground-pounders liberate clams that let loose ebullient cries of “whee!”, and brawlers roll around in cartoon clouds. Satirical news segments and pointed campaign commercials make amusing and snarky bookends, but wacky attack gimmicks and fast-paced action are what’ll keep you playing.

Assuming, that is, a few nagging issues don’t put you off. Triggered events like avalanches and lava flows add unpredictability, but they often drag down the framerate precipitously. And even without them, it’s easy to lose track of your character amid the chaos. Worse, a woeful lack of feedback on how much health you have left makes strategizing needlessly difficult. How many clams are your opponents carrying? Where will you respawn? It’s all a mystery.

Still, no candidate is above reproach, and $40 buys a sufficient variety of pleasurable political scuffling. Hail to the Chimp might lack presidential polish, but it still earns an unexpectedly agreeable term in office.