Rad Venture Preview: Leaping Lizards!

Flying onto PC comes 3D Indie platformer Rad Venture, developed and published by Knick-Knack Games. In this upcoming title, you play as the mystical and magical Rad, a lizard of some kind with attitude! Join Rad as he tries to deal with being on community service by going on an adventure, defeating villains and collecting strange McGuffinite gems. All in a platforming style that feels like a cross between Rayman 2 and Sonic Adventure. Rad Venture was one of the titles to get a preview at this year’s SAGE 25, and needless to say, it caught my eye.

And I’m pleased to say that what I’ve played thus far is honestly rather remarkable. Whilst I did play a preview build, what I’ve played shows a ton of promise. Solid controls, a well-designed world, and one of the best level soundtracks I’ve heard this year. And to be blunt, the only issues I have are minor matters that I’m sure the developer can deal with.

Rad Venture has yet to set a release date. But a demo can be played on Steam and Itch.io.

Story – Smooth Criminal

In Rad Venture, you play Rad. Who is some form of crocodile, lizard, dragon, thing, who is having to do community service due to events unknown and undisclosed in this demo. Yep, this is another situation where the preview build has no story. Not that that fact holds Rad Venture back. The focus is clearly on the gameplay. And that is the area that this preview will be mostly focused on. Though in situations like this, I turn my gaze to the tutorial and UI text. And whilst the UI and menus are well presented and easy to read, the tutorial is another matter.

This is as close to direction as you get in this build of Rad Venture.

The biggest issue that I have with Rad Venture, as it stands, is that the tutorial text is rather lacking. It starts strong. With signposts appearing as you race through the start of the game. But thereafter they vanish entirely. And from there, it isn’t clear what you should be doing or even how to do it. The fact that this is a game where you can unlock new moves is something that isn’t communicated at all early on. As such, there were frequent moments where I was unsure if I was unable to advance due to a lack of skill on my part, or if there were indeed items to unlock.

As far as flaws to find in the preview build go, Rad Venture being a little light on tutorial text is hardly a killer. But it did frustrate me when I realised I had spent far too long trying to collect something that I shouldn’t be able to collect till later in the demo. But this is all stuff that is easily sorted in later builds.

Gameplay – Spin To Win

As mentioned at the head of this preview, in Rad Venture, you play Rad, a crocodilizardthing who is doing community service due to being a little roustabout. You must race around, jumping, spinning, and defeating baddies to collect McGuffinites as you help the locals in the town you’re in, as well as in other worlds. It is a simple setup, the kind of thing you’d expect for most modern mascot platformers. The preview build I played was an Alpha. And yet despite that, I’m honestly floored by the quality of the gameplay at hand here.

Rad Venture features unlockable moves. Something I wish I knew about earlier.

Sure, let’s not get too overexcited. Rad Venture is rough around the edges; there is still plenty unfinished. And some areas could do with a little tweaking. But even with that said, when this game gets into full flow, it is a ton of fun to play. With a loop that feels somewhere between Rayman 2 and Sonic Adventure. I must say that it is more of a platformer than a speed-based platformer. But the combination of the two different approaches works rather well in my humble opinion.

Mean Green

Like with Sonic, you are a quick-footed fella who runs, grinds, and slides through levels, and eventually unlocks a homing attack that can be used to take down foes and reach certain objects. Like Rayman 2, you have an ability that allows you to hover and glide through the air. And the tone and pacing of the levels themselves feel closer to a Rayman than a Sonic. With the platforming being more precise. And with puzzles to be found to advance in certain areas. The controls are simple to learn and are responsive. With the new powers that you gain, they fold neatly into your pre-existing control scheme.

The platforming in the later levels can get intense.

The levels themselves are well designed. Allowing you a gradually escalating challenge that, save for the final level, doesn’t get too strict. Each of these levels is themed. The sub level in Headline Street is one of the best Easter Eggs I’ve seen in a game in a long time. Well, given how long it is, it is less an Easter Egg and more an Easter Parade. With a great design and amazing music.

And even beyond that level, I’m impressed with what I’ve played of Rad Venture for this preview. I just feel a couple of things need tightening here and there, and some of the bugs need squashing, and we could be onto something great. And I’m rather excited to see how this all hangs together with time.

Graphics & Audio – Beat it!

Rad Venture has a perfectly pleasant art style and decent graphics. With it feeling very much in keeping with most 3D platformers of this era; it’s cartoony but with deeper layers of detail here and there. Most of the game world is filled with many sight gags and references to see and enjoy. None of which feels like they are too distracting or overpowering. And all mesh well to add an extra layer of humour and charm to the game.

The levels flow very well. And the in-game text is easy to read. And the levels themselves are easy to read; there was never a time when I felt lost in the levels themselves. The hub world was harder to deal with due to the aforementioned lack of direction. But even still, I never really got properly lost.

The soundtrack is decent and fits the tone of the game remarkably well. With the soundtracks for some of the levels evolving and changing slightly the further you make it into them. This makes the aforementioned sub-level in Headline Street all the more amazing. As, quite honestly, the soundtrack for that level is probably one of my favourite tracks I’ve heard in a game all year. It’s just a shame I’m locked into the tail end of the final level and can’t go back to listen to it again!

Rad Venture was previewed on PC.