Supermarket Shriek Review: A Wildly Entertaining Indie darling

As an avid gamer who has played hundreds of titles over the last decade, I‘m always on the lookout for creative indie games that deliver something fresh and memorable. Supermarket Shriek is one such title – a hilarious mashup of kart racer and obstacle course game featuring one of the most ludicrous (yet ingenious) control schemes I‘ve encountered. Take control of an unlikely screaming duo stuck in a runaway shopping cart as you careen through the chaos – it‘s an absolute riot fans of zany couch co-op need to experience!

Runaway Shopping Cart Controls Create Delightful Havoc

Picture this: you‘re controlling a man and goat sharing a shopping cart. To move, you must make them scream – the louder the scream via button mashing, the faster you‘ll zoom ahead. It‘s absurd, yet brilliantly fits the frantic, reckless vibe Supermarket Shriek nails so well.

• The guy screams whenever you press W to lurch forwards
• The goat screams when you press E to speed up
• You can scream in reverse by hitting both buttons

Guiding a loose cannon of a cart using, essentially, jet engine-powered screams as propulsion makes for intentionally slippery, wild controls. Developer Billy Goat Entertainment wholeheartedly embraced this slapstick ethos. You‘re rarely fully in control – the cart zooms, drifts, and whips around at the slightest input.

It enhances the comedy when you slam full speed into obstacles! Painfully failing a tricky obstacle dozens of times doesn‘t feel unfair or frustrating. Rather, it feeds into the chaotic, trial-and-error nature – you‘re going to crash often. And that‘s part of the raucous fun here. It‘s a refreshing change of pace from more sane kart racers.

<img src="https://www.nintendo.com/content/dam/noa/en_US/games/switch/s/supermarket-shriek-switch/screenshot-gallery/supermarket-shriek-switch-screenshot01.jpg"
alt="Crashing spectacularly in Supermarket Shriek" width="500">

Even the game‘s loading screen tips mock you for the inevitable failures!

This controls scheme works so well because the devs clearly designed the game‘s structure around reckless, fast-paced runs. Levels are short and instantly restartable, avoiding the chaos wearing thin. And learning the intricacies of steering provides plenty of nuanced mastery to dig into across multiple attempts.

Sadistic Obstacle Courses Deliver Different Flavors of Hectic Fun

While one could criticize the game as "yet another obstacle course/kart racer indie game" on the surface, the level designs consistently impress with their variety and creatively cruel challenges.

The 12 story levels across 4 zones and 12 punishing bonus levels hit a sweet spot in length – long enough to hit a nice rhythm navigating the madness without dragging. Every stage throws new hazards, obstacles, and layouts to keep you attentive and pushing your cart handling skills.

A small sampling of the ludicrous obstacles awaiting:

• Giant swinging obstacles actively trying to smash your cart
• Several modes featuring extremely unforgiving time limits
• Conveyor belts running different directions
• Wide rolling logs you need to jump across huge gaps
• Checkpoint buttons providing momentary safety before tough areas

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alt="Series of platforms in a Supermarket Shriek level" width="500">

Many levels incorporate item collection goals too, forcing you to carefully balance speed and reckless grabbing/tossing as items. These changes of focus make replaying stages to best your previous times endlessly appealing. I often found myself reattempting levels dozens of times back-to-back once they clicked to keep improving my technique and seek that elusive 3-star rating!

While the difficulty spikes significantly in later levels, especially the devious bonus stages, the game graciously provides wiggle room when progress gates. If you lack the star totals needed to advance zones, you can replay easier levels to accrue more stars and open the gates. This gives less skilled players room to brute force it without punishing them too severely.

Visuals Enhance the Zany Personality

On a visual front, Supermarket Shriek displays admirable polish for an indie game. The colorful, exaggerated supermarket/carnival aesthetics brim with background detail and sight gags. Each new environment surprises with humorous minutiae without distracting from the core racing focus.

The chunky 3D paper craft-esque art style truly brings the absurdity to life as well. Seeing bizarre humanoid character models flailing, crashing, and reacting to every hit lends extra hilarity. Animations feel snappy and responsive to controls too, nicely complementing the intentionally slippery physics.

Wrapping Up: Wholeheartedly Recommended Zaniness

I‘ll keep this simple: if you enjoy offbeat indie games that commit 100% to bringing a bizarre core idea to life, run to grab Supermarket Shriek! Under its meme-worthy concept lies an incredibly fun, hopelessly addicting obstacle racer brimming with personality. Approach it with an openness to fail spectacularly (and often), and you‘ll discover a true co-op gem perfect for parties or sharing laughs with friends/family.

Just maybe keep some headache medicine handy – the constant screaming does risk grating after long sessions! But that‘s a small price to pay for one of the wildest indie rides in recent memory.