Beef Cat Ultra Review

The auto-shooter genre of games has quickly become one of my absolute favourites. Since the arrival of Vampire Survivors and other similar titles such as Brotato, I have to try any games that appear to take inspiration from them. There are lots of experiences out there along the same lines, and honestly, I bounce from game to game trying to achieve 100%. I am not one for achievements, but there is just something about auto-shooters that makes me want to absorb everything they have to offer. Beef Cat Ultra is out now across several platforms and brings its own unique Game Boy-style presentation with a generous offering of varied levels.

A Cat With One Life

The premise of Beef Cat Ultra is very simple and that is to make it through each level with only one life and survive. It strays away from other similar titles in the mindset of having one large expanse and surviving a set time. Instead, there are different tasks for each level, and whilst some do ask you to survive for a while, others have you navigating mazes, killing set amounts of enemies and collecting gems. Whilst levels aren’t always laid out the same, they do appear very similar at times, and that is simply down to the retro style, I’d imagine. There is room for exploration, though, as you’ll be hunting for power-ups and keys to unlock gates to reach the end goal, and I liked that about this particular game. You have to have a strategy when it comes to your movements, or you could become stuck.

You can unlock new characters as you progress, and as you level up, you can select from three buffs to make you stronger. These choices include increasing your attack damage, replenishing your health or increasing your gather rate of gems. As you navigate the levels, you can discover temporary weapons that will obliterate the hordes coming towards you for a short time. I won’t spoil what these are, though, as some features are best left as a surprise to the player.

Visuals & Audio

What I liked about Beef Cat Ultra is that, whilst the similarities to other auto-shooters are the same within its gameplay loop, the aesthetics are unique. Throughout the levels, I felt like I had rewound the clock and stepped back into the era of Game Boy Colour. Each level varies in its layout, and scattered throughout the map are power-ups to make your cat slightly stronger in their defence and attack. Boss fights are well coordinated in their design and movement. But the retro visuals stand out to me, which work well on the big screen. Sound effects are punchy with chimes for collecting gems and levelling up. The music during gameplay, unfortunately, did become repetitive and overbearing to the point that I turned the volume down, as catchy as it was.

Final Thoughts

If you love your auto-shooters, I highly recommend Beef Cat Ultra. Not only is there plenty of gameplay on offer here, but the price point wouldn’t even get you a Happy Meal at McDonald’s. Not only does it look very different from similar titles in the genre, but it also has an alternative method of reaching your goals. Mixing up the gameplay loop with different modes and objectives each time you take on a new challenge. I managed to get a good six or seven hours out of this one before I’d played and seen enough, but there is plenty of opportunity to replay this to tick off the achievements if that is what you’re into. I love discovering cheap hidden indie gems, and this one is well worth your time.