Shopping Cart Sadness 2

03/29/2015

Shopping Cart Hero 2 is the sequle to Shopping Cart Hero. There's apparently a third game in the series but I have yet to play it.
 
It's a launch game. You start up on a platform, run down it and try to launch your character as far and high as you possibly can and once you land depending on your performance you get cash in order to buy upgrades so the next time you launch you can go even further and higher.
 
Gameplay
You press one arrow to start running, you push another to get in your shopping cart and then you press another arrow to jump at the bottom of the ramp. To figure out the proper timing of these button presses is a frustrating game of trial and error since the game gives very little indication when to push these buttons or for how long to push them. Once you're in the air you can do various tricks by pushing combinations of arrows and you can rotate your character as well. You also need to make sure you're not in the middle of a trick and land your shopping cart properly or you will crash, get very few points and have to repurchase some of your upgrades.
 
The cost of upgrades in this game is silly and you will want to throw your monitor out of the window before any real progression is made in the game. You can buy new tricks and eventually unlock some boss battles but once you get to that point, you probably won't care. The boss battles involve purchasing a baseball bat that you swing with the space bar and you bat projectiles at the bad guys.
 
Graphics
You're a stick figure. The shopping carts do change appearance slightly when you purchase upgrades but it's  not much.  The environment is made of basic colors, you roll along and endless sandy beach with simple palm trees. There's a bit of detail to the bosses but they only have a couple frames of animation.
 
Sound
No real sound, there's the odd sound effect when you hit the ground and the sound of your rocket boosters engaging. There's a trashy rock theme that plays when you encounter a boss.
 
Replayability
You probably wouldn't want to finish one play through let alone play it again.
 
Hacks
It's easy enough to just max out your money with a hack so you can skip the endless grind and get the full effect of disappointment.
 
3 Good Points
I like launch games in general.
I like Palm Trees
Shopping Carts are useful tools.
 
3 Bad Points
Takes forever to earn upgrades
Hard to max out your jump height
Feels like the first game someone ever made.
 

Physical Qualities
Gameplay
Replayability
Hack Power
Overall Rating