The Cub Review

When a game's description calls itself “The Jungle Book meets the Armageddon,” then I, for one, am very intrigued. Coming to us from developer Demagog Studio, The Cub is a blend of classic 90s platformers mixed together with some modern-day quality-of-life improvements. Will this title be the jungle V.I.P.? Or is it a wasteland not worth exploring?

After the ultrarich flee Earth in the wake of the Great Ecological Catastrophe, those that remain are forced to perish on the now hostile planet. Not everyone succumbs to the apparent fall of humanity, however, as one survivor — our young main character — lives freely in a world retaken by nature.

Those pesky rich folk return to Earth to scope it out and, upon spotting our hero (the eponymous Cub), attempt to capture and study him. While this sets up the game's simple premise of platforming your way around dangerous obstacles and would-be hunters, you’ll uncover countless collectables that uncover just what exactly happened that caused such a cataclysmic event. With the environments themselves also telling smaller, more intimate stories of those that once resided in these areas, this may seem like a throwback to 90s titles with little in the way of narrative design, but it’s surprising just how much is here if you explore these fascinating locales.

The Cub may be a post-apocalyptic setting, but that doesn’t mean it's all drab and dreary; quite the opposite, in fact! You’ll traverse through some wonderfully weird jungles brimming with mutated flora and fauna (some of which can be rather hostile) mixed with the ruins of a fallen civilisation, with it all looking very vibrant in the process. Even clambering up derelict skyscrapers or venturing through a scrapyard are visually exciting thanks to the charming art style, wide use of colour, and slick animations. It may be tempting to stop and smell the roses (provided they don’t try to eat you), but remember, you’re being hunted!

At the beginning of the adventure, The Cub stumbles across an old space helmet that still manages to receive a single from Radio Nostalgia from Mars, providing a mix of chilled tunes to provide some background music for your quest. With the DJ chiming in every now and again, as well as some stories told by those who live on Mars, the voice acting is also of a high calibre. Some of these short tales become particularly interesting to listen to because of how well they’re voiced.

With inspiration taken from animated films of the late 90s and Samurai Jack creator Genndy Tartakovsky, The Cub didn’t transport me back to a time when I religiously watched films such as The Lion King on repeat, but it’s hard not to be impressed by such an aesthetically striking world.

In a nutshell, The Cub is a side-scrolling platformer that will have our young hero jumping, sliding, and swinging across all manner of hazardous environmental obstacles. It’s not a particularly complex game, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a breeze to play! Similar to the likes of LIMBO and INSIDE, you’ll die frequently navigating these puzzle-like areas — generous checkpoints are a huge help, thankfully — with timings needing to be rather precise so you don’t end up flattened at the bottom of a deep chasm. Some of these deaths can be quite brutal-looking, and the death screen of a stick figure Cub meeting his end is somehow cutesy yet horrifying, so be prepared for these; you’ll be seeing them a lot!

The gameplay did invoke a feeling of nostalgia when thinking back to my time as a child playing (yet never completing) the likes of Disney's Aladdin and The Lion King. However, with the removal of outdated mechanics such as a limited number of lives and sparse respawn locations, The Cub firmly feels like a modern title, especially thanks to the responsive controls — essential for some of the trickier jump timings!

You’ll also go hunting for a good number of collectables that not only incentivise the player to stray from the beaten path but also provide a good bit of context about the world and how humanity is prospering on Mars. While reaching the end of a level is usually as simple as moving right continuously, hunting out collectables in secret areas gave The Cub a much grander feel. Spotting a newspaper with no idea how to reach it quickly became a puzzle in and of itself. Searching high and low for hidden platforms or vines to swing from certainly stretched out the game's run time, but at no point did it feel boring, thanks to the world-building contained within each collectable.

The Cub is a game that surprised me. What I expected to be another run-of-the-mill 2D platformer ended up being a beautiful journey through a ruined planet packed with mystery. Yes, I was reminded of platformers from the past, but it’s still very much its own game that fits in with similar modern titles. It can get tough, sure, but there was always a satisfying feeling after finally traversing a section of the game that had me dying over and over again. I don’t think I’ll be unlocking any of the Trophies that require you to complete certain levels without dying, but The Cub is such a fun experience that I’ll certainly be returning to give it a try!