Gon' E-Choo!

needs more spiders

Simple arcade game that plays like Popeye. Collect letters, avoid gator and pick up power ups to smack him down. Mostly you repeat loop of 3 different stages. I did not notice any difficulty variations. Game have nice sprites and what is done is well made but it's like repeating same thing over and over again. Make sure to check out official site with some decent comics related to the game. Sounds of arcade cabinet playing and pressing buttons is top notch. However I think there's not enough content to recommend.

Gave this a quick try before bed, played a few rounds and loved it. At only 99 cents you may be skeptical but it's a good arcade game if you like the Popeye and Kangaroo arcades though this is much more like Popeye (just as fun too). Walking around in the room to mess with stuff like the radio you can turn on for music in the room is neat but just a novelty to me.

A really cool aspect beyond just a good arcade game is the well placed spots you can choose to for the camera to be as you play. Walk up to it and click to play like it's a item to pick up. Camera doesn't zoom into it nor transition to the game, just the game on it's screen starts and you now movement is the character instead of camera. You can zoom in your view with a button press and in the options you can select to have it just display the arcade game.

One other really cool option in the settings is webcam for reflection. If you turn that on, it will show you on the arcade machine's screen reflection. Why is that neat? Because it looks like you are in the game standing in front of the machine playing. The way it displays the reflection makes it really look that way and not just a cheap gimmick.

Some settings (such as sound sliders) will be off and you will want to turn those on. You have a image quality slider, bloom to turn off/on and other things so do check settings first. I turned everything on and up 100%. I have a powerful gaming laptop (MSI GE75 Raider with great specs) and while it handled it without issue, right away my fans came on at full blast like I was running a high end resource heavy game. I didn't test turn some things off and lowering quality. I played with an Xbox Elite 2 controller, worked fine. Tested with keyboard and that worked well too.

I bought this game on a whim because it was inexpensive and the anthro characters seemed cute. Upon starting it up and playing it I realized this is basically the arcade game Popeye with slightly modified gameplay. Rather than collecting hearts from Olive Oyl you're collecting paper airplanes, for example. Popeye is replaced with Savvy the otter and Bluto is replaced with Gon' E-Choo Gator (whose real name is a secret spelled out by the paper airplanes you collect).

There are just three levels to the game, just like Popeye, and upon beating them you're sent back to stage one with some of the secret letter revealed to you. The more times you complete the loop of the game the more of the letter you get to read and find out more about Gon' E-Choo Gator.

Now here's where the game gets weird. Gon' E-Choo is actually a webcomic that ran for a whole year a while back. Scenes and events in this game correlate to the comic including the significance of the paper airplanes. Gon' E-Choo Gator receives a letter by way of a paper airplane and although the contents of the letter are not revealed to the reader the letter is profoundly important to the character. The contents of that letter are actually what the paper airplanes in this game spell out. In order to read the full letter you have to complete all 255 levels of the game. I suck at this game so I've never read the full contents sadly.

Overall this is an enjoyable game for the price especially if the whole "ARG" aspect of the game linking to the webcomic interests you. There are secrets to discover in this game that according to the developer few people have figured out. I'm not really sold on the blatant undertones of furry vore in this game because whether it's cartoony or not the developer isn't fooling anyone, lol.

Hard and fun! It's perfectly balanced as a hard game that can be enjoyable and a solid replacement for the Popeye game, even better I'd say.

So... "Popeye: Furry Edition" basically. Haha I'm kidding. I'm glad this was made and inspired by the Popeye arcade game from 1983 because there really are no other games like that. The power-up tune is catchy and the characters and level design are very much enjoyable.

Now I will say I use "Game Only" mode just because I don't feel that the VR arcade room portion, whatever you wanna call that, is really necessary. We have "New Retro Arcade" on Steam which is already phenomonal in my opinion. But a really cool feature to say the least. I haven't used that webcam "reflection" option yet, but I could imagine that could really make it feel like you're actually there playing a real arcade cabinet.

Overall, this is a fun game. I still love the Popeye arcade game today, and Gon 'E-Choo! is an awesome nostalgic addition to my Steam library.. ^_^

The VR experience is a nice extra but the core of the game is the old school action platformer (based on a POGO-esque webcomic) that offers a very reminiscent experience to the original Popeye arcade machine of the early 80s. In this regard the gameplay delivers a similar experience with superior and amusing sprite animations.

The game is considerably more forgiving then the original arcade its patterned after though, which might be a drawback for the hardcore arcade rats.

At the paltry base price it's an easy recommendation to old school arcade game fans.

If you are not old enough to remember the quarter eating, nail-biting, early games at the arcade, you should give this a try.

Just prepare to be FRUSTRATED,

Just like those early arcade games there are only a limited number of levels that repeat over and over again getting pregressively harder and harder(in this case there are three levels).
Just like those old games there is limited mechanics, you don't fight the bad guy you just keep running to avoid him while getting enough keys (in this case paper airplanes) to progress tot he next level.
Just like those old games, you will want to throw your controller across the room when you get 10 levels up just to die(there was a reason those arcade games cotrols were built like a tank).
Just like those old games You will try to get your initials into the top ten list.

The only thing this game is missing compared to those old arcade games is the ability to put "just one more" quarter in to contiue after you die and the absolute frustration of not having another quarter to contiue your streak.

It's a great little game and you must try it if you are an oldie like me and really should consider it if you want to know what the old arcades were like.

TL;DR

This is a great game, but don't expect deeply involved gameplay, just a well done tribute to games of old.
It's a great deal for the price. Give it a try if you want a notstalgic trip back in time.

Gon' E-Choo! replicates the "feel" of a classic game better than any other modern retro game I've experienced. The others seem too focused on delivering the aesthetic (usually with too many colors) alongside gameplay that conforms to modern videogame expectations: there has to be an overarcing story, a metagame, a save system, character growth, a difficulty curve that gently guides players to credits. Gon' E-Choo! doesn't do any of that. This game only sets out to deliver a new-one-of-those, and absolutely succeeds.

While there's no explicit campaign, the game does give you an overarcing goal: a notepad tells you the game can be broken to the point where someone can play it all day on a single quarter. But the only way to do this is the same way you'd exploit a classic arcade game: by learning the AI patterns to the point where nothing can surprise you. (There is a helpful cheat code, but even when it's used I can only make it to stage 57 or so.) I currently have a text file full of AI notes and stage strategies; it seems like I have it all worked out, I just need to get my reflexes to the point where I can do this in my sleep.

There is a motive for getting as far in as you can, from a this-is-merchandise-for-an-actual-brand standpoint: the webcomic has a cryptic side to it, related to the gator's origin. The comic teases a letter that may hold some answers, but it's only shown the first line so far. The whole thing appears to be in this game, however; it's drip-fed line-by-line with every three stages you complete. But that's only a motivator if you're interested in the lore of a silly furry webcomic (which -- and I'm going to take a wild guess, here -- I bet most people aren't). The game itself stands on its own.

If there's anything else in this game, I'll update this review -- but for the amount of fun I've had with it so far, I'd absolutely recommend it at $1.99. Get ate!~

The Good:

It's a fun-ish formula, peppy music, and a very interesting hub background.
The game makes you learn without a tutorial, just like the games of Ye Olde Video Gamme Infancee. It's a plus if you dislike handholding tutorials, but a minus if you have a hard time learning as you go.
Otter protagonist. Just, otter.
Cute animations.
Awesome comic strip to read for lore and immersion.

The Bad:

Game tries to pass itself off as a "Wowie, look at us! We're super famous." in its universe when I doubt its ability to have more than a cult following at best.
Gator game too strong???
Absolutely no explanation as to why you're in what appears to be a storeroom. Are you a fan who curates Gon' E-Choo paraphernalia? Are you just some weirdo who walked in and decided it was okay to play this random arcade machine?

The Ugly:

Oh my word, the sensitivity on this is WAY TOO HIGH. I set it to lowest in options and put my DPI on lowest it could go, and I STILL was flying about. Is this because it's a VR-focused game and head movements are supposed to be minimal?
Thankfully, you have the option to skip using the hub entirely and go straight to the game, without any "trappings of reality", but a lot of the magic is misssing when you do that.

The Verdict:

Come on, its got an otter protagonist. How could you NOT play this?
In all seriousness, for its price, it's got decent gameplay, good story, fun music, and a fun level design. A real gem you should consider picking up if you've got $2 to spare. If you invest in the badge it's highly likely you'll make your money back with minimal profit.

The days of yesteryear are far gone, the arcades are nothing but a forgotten dream replaced with barcades and family fun centers, and a game like this (the game itself), would probably never be made for the mainstream.

Is Gon' E-Choo legit? Yes. It's the real deal. And for those who want a title that captures the magic, challenge, and replayability of a mid-80's arcade game, but something new. Here you go.

Feels like Popeye, vaguely reminds me of Mappy, and I would gladly let it eat my quarters any day if I were to see it in real life.

There's Easter Eggs, and everything involved with this title creates a lost world that time forgot, but never really existed.

The levels are fair enough to be playable, but still believably hard to be an 80's arcade title.

For the price, it's fair. On sale, it's a steal.

Give it a spin if you love old school hardcore. You wont be disappointed.

........I have a bad feeling I may get addicted soon.

This game is a mix of the classic Donkey kong, and popeye arcade game. Some elements taken by both games. Will say It was really nice to see one of my favorite artist having a game out.

If you like classic arcade games like I do you will get your money worth with the price.

Also had to change my review, IF this was a real arcade game it would be a quater muncher, but in a good way. easy and fun game to play, Hard to master.

Gon' E-Choo is a mostly an arcade styled game with a little bit of first person movement. Apperantly this game is based off of a web comic series about a gator and a otter that's in the style of those old Pogo comics, I've read some of them and they are entertaining. The arcade gameplay plays just like the Popeye Arcade game, collecting trinkets to move to the next level, avoiding a big guy, etc. That's the main highlight of the game and it's good and challenging fun. Not sure what's the deal with the first person movement, aside from interacting with the arcade game, the only thing you can do is just look around and view parts and pieces to the arcade cabinet. But then again it's an early acess game so I can't be too critical, still feels like a finished game. And with its fun arcade throwback and cheep price, I say it's worth it

This game was made by some degenerate furry, with their vore fetish at the forefront, and I thought I could just buy it, trash it in a review and move on, yet it's one of the best, most authentic arcade experiences I've ever had.

I mean look at this. What the heck am I supposed to say? I can't defend what this comic series is about. I don't know dick about it, but it kind of sickens me. However, if I astral project myself away from this and just think of the game as its own thing, well, I'll explain why I like it.

When I first started it, I was confused. "First person perspective? Being able to move around? Why?"

Then it hit me when I was playing: The noise. The atmosphere.

The sound of the joystick, the click of the button. Playing with a 360 controller, I could swear I was playing with an arcade pad. There's no way you can replicate that in an emulated fashion unless you get yourself one, but even then. There's something about staring down into a simulated CRT monitor of an arcade machine that playing it as any other game wouldn't have given you. Arcade machines were something special - like a big bulky advertising box that wants to sell itself to you. (Or maybe a prostitute comparison is apt here?) Arcade machines were the kind of thing you dreamed of taking home with you, as opposed to some crappy home port no doubt Acclaim had something to do with.

"Gon' E-Choo!" (I kinda don't like that name) is as it says on the tin: A 3 stage "platformer" where you collect letters (The paper kind. Although for awhile I thought they were white hats for some reason) while avoiding a gator and bees. Avoiding the gator is just plain fun, like a primitive stealth game, where obfuscating simple AI patterns feels like you're tricking something - like showing a dog a mirror and it thinks its own reflection is another dog. There's not a whole lot to discuss here besides the sublime, simplistic design, which yes, does take its cues from Popeye - but you know what? I like Popeye, but the game is different enough from it that it's not an outright clone. At worst, I'd call it an extremely well done rom hack that adds new levels, as opposed to how I think of it as an homage to a classic. (It even has similar Thru signs.)

In fact, the game feels very much like a love letter to arcades. If you look around the room you're in, you'll find fictional flyers and the guts/parts of an arcade machine you can examine. There's also a tape player you can blare over the music and sound of the game. (A nice touch is that you can turn off the arcade machines music and just leave the SFX on, which is pretty awesome. Custom music tape mod when?)

So I've gushed about it. Any problems? Well... there is kind of one, but it's not in the way you think. You see, it's the controls. They're far too precise. With a keyboard, the game works as you'd expect, the problem is the Xbox 360 controller. It was never truly precise, it's a good controller that fits a lot of games like a glove, but for Gon E-Choo, I got myself into a few too many pickles I knew I could have prevented if I was using something better. At the same time though, I want to use a controller for this game, cause it's the right kind of game for it.

For minor problems, I guess the side panelling of the arcade machine could be more eye catching. I mean I could be wrong, but how common are arcade machines with black and white comics on the sides of it? Maybe the power up could serve more of a purpose than letting you eat the gator? Maybe a mini game like a lot of later arcade games started adding? I don't know, at this point I'm nitpicking.

I know furries are a punchline, but this more than anything proves to me that a person can have bad taste in fetishes, but they can have supremely excellent taste in video game design. I think a lot of indie devs that think they're "totally like, making retro games, man" could learn a lot from this title. I recommend it.

The Pro's:
[quote]
+Feels absolutely authentic

+Throwback arcade design that's still fun today

+First person view adds a lot to the immersion

+The price is excellent
[/quote]

The Con's:
[quote]
-Vore... furries... oh god

-360 controller is just too imprecise for such a precise game
[/quote]

This is a cool little game that's worth getting if you have a dk2. The arcade game within the game is pretty challenging as well (those flies must be on roids). I'm not sure why I'm trapped in a creepy basement room and why I have telekinetic powers. Probably for the safety of others. Hopefully this gets explained one day.
Definitely something to have when you want to show off your dk2 to friends.
I got it on sale for .99 but even at 2.00 its worth picking up.

Man, I love this game! I remember playing Popeye on my friend's old Atari... Or maybe it was the Colecovision? Okay, I don't really remember the game all that well but I remember loving it.

What's not to love? You've got gators chasing you wanting to eat you, mysterious garage of wonders and old motherboards, and 50s style comics on a nearby table. It's a fun three-level game with an ever-increasing difficulty and an ending nobody has seen yet. That's right, you can be the first to see a kill-screen ending before EVERYONE ELSE. You'll get street cred. If you have to choose between 1 game featuring gators this year and you don't want to play Bayou Billy for the billionth time, get this game.

If this game has any problems is that the first level can be somewhat difficult for beginners. And I had a few other gripes, but with the game's newest patches a lot of the problems have been fixed. It's a game that's easy to pick up, difficult to master, and very fun and goofy.

Tl;dr version:

Gators. That is all. 19.45/10

Those with a voracious appetite for classic arcade games will eat this up, but others might find it a bit hard to swallow. If you're hungry for some old-school quarter-munching action, this game costs less than a bite to eat and is something you can sink your teeth into, so it'll give you something to chew on for a while.

Okay, I've played a couple of games, and looked around the back room, and read through the tumblr archives of the comic to the beginning, for good measure.

My initial opinion of the game itself is that it plays a great deal like Nintendo's "Popeye" from 1980. You pick up paper airplanes while running from the gator and killing flies with your yoyo, and once per life you can pick up the power-up comic book(?) and devour him instead. Picking up all the airplanes lets you advance to the next lavel.

The back room in which the game is situated is an interesting device in itself. It's a dirty back room that looks like a workshop, given the bins of parts and pile of speakers. I'm wondering if there's eventually going to be an easter egg that lets you open that door and see what's beyond. Perhaps something having to do with the letters that appear when you retrieve each airplane.

Overall, worth a look for $2, and it'll be interesting to see what'll be coming in the future.

Pretty much like any other arcade game. As in, the mechanics are simple, you can get caught off-guard easily, there's a good bit of challenge as your pursuant gets faster and pauses for less time before grabbing for you, and if you know how the mechanics all work then you can try to pull off risky manuevers or just game the system and all that. Not to mention, besides the game, there's the whole arcade-cabinet-in-basement/garage environment where you're actually looking at the screen, hearing the music in that close environment through speakers, click of the joystick and buttons and all?

At any rate, for 2 bucks it's not bad. It's simple, the levels repeat (with growing difficulty), and the gameplay isn't hard to pick up, but grows challenging over time. I come back to it fairly often, mainly to give it another go and get farther, and also because I want to beat my friends' high scores because we're one-upping each other. So yeah, I think it's a fun little game.

By the way I should throw this disclaimer on here, I was the one who made the bleep bloop sounds and music, yeah. I didn't have anything to do with the gameplay or art or deciding mechanics or anything, though, I just supplied noises. I do legitimately think the game's decent, though, but yeah just putting that bit of transparency out there in case people think I'm reviewing my own product or something.

Must-buy for DK2 owners. The game itself is charming, frustrating and fun, and having VR support makes it feel like you're actually in front of the cabinet. For two bucks, I may just pick it up and gift to a friend of mine (also a DK2 owner). Give it a try!

RECOMMENDED!

This is a fun and charming game that fans of old early-to-mid 1980s cabinet arcade games are definitely going to like. I don't remember playing a modern retro-style game that has transported me back to my quarter-crazy youth so enjoyably and thoroughly.

You play the role of a derby-wearing pink cat who is trying to collect letters in the form of paper airplanes that soar back an forth to the bottom of the screen. While running around collecting them, there is an alligator trying to eat the cat. Also, there is a power up that allows you to turn the tables and eat the alligator. This simple premise, like a good arcade game, is addictive. A lot of quarters would have been pumped into this back in the day.

The sound is spot on for the chips that were used at that time and the music is a happy little jingle. The characters are unique yet familiar and could have had their own Saturday morning cartoon. The CRT screen emulation, animations, and graphics are straight out of a time-warp. For me, it really captures the atmosphere of playing an old cabinet game and it offers the fun of learning to master a new machine.

Some might not like the simplicity and repitition of a game with only three different screens (a treehouse in the woods, a backyard and a shopping mall) or appreciate the charm, but I think those people are going to be few and far between. And even at full price you can own it for less than 8 plays on a real quarter-operated game.

NOTE: The developer is very active in the forums and has already made some excellent updates since release.

Very fun and quite difficult. The music and graphics are spot on for an 80's arcade game. I'm also really digging the overall look of the arcade cabinet. Lots of nice little touches too, like the cabinet joystick moving along with the player's actions. I kinda geeked out when I saw scan lines on the game screen, simulating an old CRT monitor.

A treat for fans of arcade classics and totally worth the asking price.

10/10 will try to not get eaten again.