The developers at We Are Fuzzy are newcomers to the gaming scene, but they bring a lot of talent with them, with folks that worked on Marvel films and Pixar. That doesn’t mean the transition to games is easy. But you still have to give the team credit where credit is due when it comes to innovation in the twin-stick genre. After all, the last thing you think when it comes to the genre is kids fending off monsters in the middle of the night.
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Sleep Tight has you choose from a number of different children, who find themselves fending off waves of coming monsters in their bedroom with continuously changing odds. Fortunately, they can prepare for the scenario with a number of power-ups, including pillow forts that suddenly become secondhand cannons that can keep a few of these beasts at bay. Of course, we could just ask, “Well, where are the parents when all this is happening?” But that’d take away from the sheer goofiness of the idea, you see.
The game puts you in a single room and asks you to take on monsters that come at you in all directions. At first, the waves come easy, with only a few of these foul things crawling out of the woodwork. But Sleep Tight escalates from there with even tougher creatures that require more ammo to bring down, along with “blood moon” stages where they really start piling in.
Eventually, you do get to morning (whew), but instead of going back to your daily life, you simply stock up on what you need next. This includes setting up defensive perimeters to fend the monsters off, like walls made out of furniture and those helpful turret cannons. You can also use stars and in-game currency to power up your character of choice, and keep both their health and ammo from dwindling down to zero. After all, if you take care of your main player, they’ll take care of you.
This Ain’t No Pillow Fight
The general goal of Sleep Tight is to last as long as possible, like any good twin-stick shooter asks. And the game does fairly well when it comes to building up the odds against you, without going completely crazy like some wave-based shooters are known to do. There’s proper balancing here, and a good detailing of what certain resources, refills and secondary items can do for you. You won’t be feeling lost here.
Sleep Tight also benefits from a great control scheme. You’ll seldom make mistakes here, save for times you don’t buy the proper defense when you obviously need it. The game does eventually get strenuously challenging, but by that point, you should have yourself built up to the point where monsters should be fearing you. (Of course they don’t, because, well, they’re monsters, see.)
Plus the stuff you unlock is pretty novel. I’m actually a fan of the barbed wire that, in reality, is nothing more than Christmas lights. And, of course, I dig the turrets, as they can really help you out in a jam. Just remember to take care of them or, yeah, they’re pillow stuffing.
Slightly Asleep On Variety, But This Is No Snorefest
I also enjoyed the game’s presentation. The music is a lot of fun to listen to and not your usual bedtime variety; and the graphics really pop off the screen in both handheld and TV mode, with nary a hint of slowdown and some excellent use of colors. It’s also great to see each kid bring some sort of variety to the table, namely in the form of weapon they’re carrying.
Unfortunately, Sleep Tight does come up short in one area — variety. The game doesn’t really offer a number of different rooms to fight your way through, so some might feel that it gets a little too monotonous for its own good when it comes to settings. There’s also a lack of definitive modes. There is enough to play through here to keep you coming back and unlocking stuff, but I would’ve liked different options to choose from. Not to mention the lack of a co-op mode. If any game is asking to be a slumber party-based scenario, it’s this one.
But I digress. This is We Are Fuzzy’s first outing in gaming and it’s a good, clever one. What Sleep Tight lacks in variety, it more than makes up for with good, fun shooting action and enough strong defenses to choose from to keep you experimenting to see what works best for you. That, coupled with an imaginative presentation (save for the lack of room designs), should make this a title worth enjoying before a good night’s rest.
Just watch out for monsters.
WWG’s Score: 4 out of 5.
Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher.
