Super Bunny Man Review (Switch) –  A Hop, Skip And A Prayer

Not all heroes wear capes. Some of them don bunny suits and feel like bouncing merrily through colourful landscapes on the hunt for carrots. No dead-parent-framing story, no dormant superpowers, just a colourful onesie. That’s your Super Bunny Man.

Sometimes all it takes is something so simple, so daft a concept that in the world of grim gaming and serious stories, that it just lifts the spirits. A game about men in suits bouncing about stages with a complete disregard to common sense? Why not.

Yes, Super Bunny Man has finally hit the Nintendo Switch, having been on PC for a while. Is this hilariously frustrating puzzle/time trial worth it or should it burrow underground? Let’s hop to it (ugh, I feel dirty for that).

A Spring In Your Step

This is normally where I’d set the scene, lay out the narrative… but there isn’t one, far as I can tell. No opening text crawl about the planet Bunnytron needing carrots for life fuel or anything. Just you, the player, as a man in a rabbit suit. Or perhaps it’s a man-rabbit mutant thing, again no information is given.

Either way, the gist is players are on 2D levels, with three medal-based objectives per level. The first is simple: finish the level. Well, simple enough to start with, but it soon ramps up as most obscure platformers do.

The second is finding the hidden carrot in the level. Fortunately, they’re not tiny or blended into the scenery. But the caveat is they do need to be carried to the end-of-stage warp. Sound easy, but we’ll get to why it’s not.

Thirdly, the time trial aspect. Again, simple in concept: beat a level in under a certain, specified time. But simple in concept doesn’t equate to simple in execution, as Super Bunny Man is anything but when it comes to handling.

Full Tilt Bouncy

So, what do I mean by “sounds simple but not”? Well, if I’d said there’s only three buttons to use, including the thumbstick, it sounds easy enough. There’s the stick for balance and rotation, a jump button for the obvious, and a grab command for holding onto ledges, each other or the carrot.

But here’s the catch: you can’t walk/run. Instead players have to tilt their man-bunny/Bunny Man in their favoured direction and jump. Imagine that, but constantly, that’s how you’ll progress through stages.

Trying to gage which angle to launch at, timing it right on landing, or not over-rotating and bouncing the other way. Think you’re going to get a steady rhythm of hops going? Admirable, I like it, but unless you’ve mastered this from the start you’ll be bouncing all over the shop.

Whilst it’s not as hard as Manual Samuel, with its limb-wrangling mechanics, it’s certainly tricky to get the hang of. But fortunately, tricky doesn’t mean attrition and frustration, as it’s hilarious when it goes wrong.

Don’t Let Go!

Whilst it may be called Super Bunny Man, players aren’t doomed to bounce alone. There’s co-op and battle mode, the latter of which we’ll get to in a bit. But let’s explore the whole “problem shared is a problem doubled” cooperative mode instead.

Co-op, in its simplest form, is a riot. If you thought trying to navigate something that acts like a cross between a weeble and a coiled spring, wait until there’s two of you. The objectives remain the same, but the catch is that if one player falls down a hole or lands on spikes, it fails. That’s right, both players need to complete the level. Good luck with the time trails.

What makes it hard, yet funny, is that players can grab each other. It’s quite funny going top-and-fluffy-tail and acting like a kind of rudimentary wheel. It’s also funny when one player can’t reach, so the other rocks back, holds the other’s ears and hoiks him up.

What isn’t helpful, but is equally hilarious, is accidentally landing underfoot of the other and getting booted off the stage. Well, funny in some instances, not so much on the last section of level.

I’m sure after years of practice you’ll reach that perfect synergy… but I doubt it.

Bunny Battle Bonanza!

The battle mode, by contrast, is not a pleasant affair. Not as in “it runs badly” or anything, far from it. What I mean is that if co-op is the chaotic good side of things, this is the other end of that scale. The chaotic… chaos, if you will.

There’s a few modes: Deathmatch, Carrot Grab and Basketball. The first is pretty self-explanatory, but if you need an example, think Super Smash Bros. with grabby bunny-men. Grab, kick and hurl each other onto spike pits or oblivion, simple enough.

Carrot Grab is, again, fairly straightforward in its title. Teams of two compete to see whom can stash the most of the orange vegetable in a certain score/timeframe.

And lastly, Basketball. Funnily enough, it’s again pretty Ronseal when it comes to describing itself. Ball, net, however the two shall meet in what seems like an easy concept. But if you’ve been paying attention you’ll realise it’s anything but.

Whilst the co-op is limited to two players, battle mode is intended for four. Both of these modes are available online, but for me, trying to find a game on the Switch was usually either a long wait or non-existent.

Stunted Bunnies

Now, whilst that sounds like a segue into the negatives of Super Bunny Man, there isn’t actually that much to gripe about. Catobyte have put the effort into making it a pretty seamless game, in terms of presentation and performance. On those grounds, can’t fault it.

The only problem that it really has is lack of depth. As I say, there’s no story, despite ironically calling it Story Mode. It’s just hopping from level to level, zone to zone accruing medals to unlock more courses. Players might hit a wall, then have to replay older levels for time trials or carrots, but that’s it.

Going from woodlands to ice zones, underground and beyond is a change of scenery and skill level at best. But that’s it, and multiplayer is great fun but it’s definitely suited to couch co-op/competition. Well, the battle mode is, co-op is just as fun online, without the frustrated arm punching when it goes wrong.

Oh, wait, there is something: the menu music. It’s very charming at first, but I guarantee it’ll be turned off after a short time.

Bounce And Roll

To summarise, Super Bunny Man is fun, but a very short and forgettable experience. Unless players are willing to spend the hours needed to perfect every level, of which there’s a considerable amount, it’s very much a flash-in-the-pan kind of game.

That’s not to say it’s bad, quite the opposite. It’s actually an absolute joy to play, but the fun comes from friends. Alone it’s just you trying to master a level, whereas co-op is the meat of it. Same with the battle modes, they’re fun if you’ve got people round or can match online. The former is clearly a “Check out this manic little game” kind of affair, but that’s it.

It’s like Guts and Glory, it’s a streamer/Let’s Play game inherently. Personally, I’ve enjoyed the Game Grumps playthroughs of it, but I don’t have the patience to see it through myself.

Super Bunny Man is great if you’re after a snack-sized platformer, but it lacks substance to maintain the longevity. If it’s cheap enough, then by all means bang it on the Switch for hosting an evening alongside Mario Party and the like, but that’s about it.

Super Bunny Man is available now on Nintendo Switch (review platform) and PC via Steam.

Developer: Catobyte
Publisher: Catobyte

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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