Patti Hattu! Cosmic Revolt – first impressions

With the release of Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble imminent, we’ve caught wind of another ball-rolling title heading to Steam on 17th June 2024. Patti Hattu! Cosmic Revolt, from developer BandanaKid, promises a mix of action, puzzles, racing and platforming across 70 levels.

We’ve been sent a code of the full game that we are trying out in this preview but there is a demo available on the Steam store so you can try it out for yourself. This game is all about the action and not the story but the premise centres around Pat the Hat who has been abducted by some comic aliens. The pesky blobs wish to test humanity in a series of trials involving rolling around in a ball.

The main game is broken down into tiers with each containing a set number of levels. To move onto the next level you must finish the current level and will be awarded stars depending on how quickly you finish the course. The levels come in a few varieties with most being a simple platforming stage that requires you to get to the end. However, there are other types, such as collecting a set number of gems or completing the course in a set time, that add lots of variety.

Controlling your ball couldn’t be easier and the physics engine really stands out in Patti Hattu! Cosmic Revolt. You always feel in control and you know that any deaths are on you as speeding up and slowing down is seamless. Throughout the courses, you have the help of springs, moving platforms and boosts that will need to be utilised to finish each round. It feels great moving around and you quickly start to see how the courses have been designed around having fun but providing a robust challenge.

It’s not just you and your ball either as you have a few extra moves that can be used in Patti Hattu! Cosmic Revolt. A great feature is the speed boost that grants a sudden injection of speed and this helps to generate momentum to tackle steep hills or vertical portions of a level. You can also perform a short jump that comes in very handy on most levels. The final move is a parachute that can be deployed to instantly slow down if you find yourself out of control.

There are also times when you’re restricted by not being able to jump or having a fixed camera angle that is meant to be from the perspective of the alien overseer who is making you do the trials. These little extras do add further variety to the game and help mix up what could otherwise get quite repetitive quickly. Overall the gameplay is very fun and the difficulty starts to ramp up once you hit the second set of levels. There are also secrets to uncover in each level that add some longevity to the overall game.

While Patti Hattu! Cosmic Revolt is a fun game to play, the graphics and music do come across as a little bland in places, it lacks an identity and doesn’t ‘pop’ or stand out. This sounds hyper-critical of an indie game, and it’s for the most part, but also understandable given that BandanaKid is only a two-person team. Also, the little aliens that you speak to between level sets are very childish and will probably only appeal to gamers who like cutesy-type characters.

Looking beyond the visuals though, there is a great game here with excellent controls and deep gameplay that gets better and better the more you play. There is also the challenge of trying to get all the stars by improving and working out where the shortcuts and secrets are. Patti Hatt! Cosmic Revolt is a fine arcade game that deserves to do well and is a genuine contender to Super Monkey Ball in the ball-rolling platform genre. Highly recommended.