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Choppa: Rescue Rivals is a new retro-inspired arcade title from developer Parta Games, which is out now on Steam and Switch, priced at $14.99. We’ve been playing through the first couple of hours of Choppa: Rescue Rivals and are delighted to say its blend of anime-style story and arcade action really does bring home the nostalgia of Saturday morning cartoons. The game had been in development since 2019, but finally sees the light of day, and has us screaming GET TO THE CHOPPA!
The story in Choppa: Rescue Rivals is one of intrigue and good versus evil. Large corporations are ruining the planet, and it’s up to Rick, a rescue pilot fresh out of retirement, to save the day and uncover a devious plot. Every character plays their part, from Rick, the backchatting hero, a young geeky kid who has just joined the crew and builds gadgets for the team, the stuffy old guy who leads them, and of course a mysterious bad guy who has a history with the hero. Everything you’d want from a Saturday morning cartoon is here.
Choppa: Rescue Rivals is broken down into main areas containing five levels, each with missions to complete, with the final one a big boss battle. As you progress, your helicopter and vehicles acquire new mods that give you more options on how to tackle the rescues and explorations. You also collect coins that can be used between missions in the shop. The usual things, such as different vehicles and aesthetics, can be purchased here, alongside extra arenas for the multiplayer aspect of the game.
Most of the missions in the one-player story mode involve rescuing stranded folk from dangerous situations or delivering vital cargo. All the missions except the boss battles have secrets to uncover, and this adds longevity as you’ll need to revisit areas to 100% the game. There are also other factors to get the coveted gold medal on each mission that involve not taking damage or purposefully avoiding checkpoints. These extra sub-missions add some real jeopardy to proceedings and again, add some longevity to see the whole game complete.
One of the best parts of Choppa: Rescue Rivals is how a new controllable character is introduced each time you successfully finish a set of levels. With the extra choppas to unlock and upgrades to find, there is a lot of variety, and once you start accumulating lots of craft, you’ll want to go back and try missions again with your new toys. The vehicles all behave quite differently with different strengths and weaknesses, and a lot of thought has gone into keeping the story mode interesting.
Overall, Choppa: Rescue Rivals is a love letter to 90s childhoods with great retro graphics and presentation souped up in an engaging game. While some of the missions do feel a bit samey in places, the distinct locales and genuinely different vehicles mean the game feels fresh throughout. Add in the extra longevity with sub-missions and secrets to find, and Choppa: Rescue Rivals feels like a great value title that arcade fans will enjoy.
