Remember playing those licensed games from the late 90s~early 00s during a rainy afternoon when you were sick and didn't go to school? Remember how they used to make you feel? Well, that nostalgia is here in Scrat's Nutty Adventure but it showed me how barebones most of these 3D platformers can still be even 20~25 years later.

The only reason I'm recommending this game is because it CAN be a very fun adventure! I'll explain why:

The story has nothing to do with the other characters from the Ice Age series which at first was a bummer but man, I forgot how much this silly squirrel makes me laugh. I'll admit I kept playing because the noises he makes are glorious.
So the idea is basically the same as always has with him, Scrat wants to get the acorn and by doing so he ends up finding a mysterious temple belonging to the Scratazon, an alien race of female squirrels. Yes, the story is bonkers LMAO please don't be like the 'anti-console' loser also reviewing this game using lotsa words and saying absolutely nothing important while also complaining about the HISTORICAL ACCURACY of a game starring a funny squirrel chasing an acorn featuring alien powers in the Ice Age-- holy shid dude what an embarrassment of a person that guy is. Anyway, Scrat finds himself guided by the aliens to find four Crystal Acorns and by doing so, he goes on an adventure unlocking and using a few upgrades given by the aliens as he finds said acorns.

Now I used a controller so I cannot comment on KB+M; the controls feel good but they kinda screwed me over a few times and so did the somewhat unresponsive sensitive camera, however nothing gamebreaking. The game felt infinitely better after I got the double jump upgrade; it's the first upgrade you get like, 20~25 minutes into the game.
Oh quick reminder that you can't really customize much of the settings. It feels the J.A.W devs just didn't bother or were rushed to make the PC port, which seems a pattern with most games published by Outright Games; most of their games just... lack soul, but thankfully Scrat has more than enough soul to compensate the bitter feeling this game left me.

The cutscenes are hilarious; if you grew up watching the Ice Age movies and loved Scrat there, here's as grand if not better! This lil guy is still the best.
The soundtrack is pretty decent, it fits the areas of the game and so does the world building and design; the levels aren't gorgeous nor hideous, just cartoony enough to feel like the Ice Age series.

Scrat's journey is super short and extremely easy until the last levels where the platforming is a tad challenging and so are the puzzles, but nothing ridiculous; the slides can yeet you sometimes but it's fine, the game doesn't really have any infuriating areas and checkpoints are plenty. You can even 'damage-abuse' jumping on water/lava to skip certain parts of the levels too. Only 1~2 times because 3 times it kills Scrat regardless of his health.

Yes, I did everything and I did not regret 100%ing, even though the game doesn't facilitate the completionists but it's ok, just fast traveling to the beginning of each level and redoing them now with all the upgrades isn't a hassle if you really, really want to get all the achievements, it's just boring if anything.
About the rest-- most of the collectables aren't necessary aside from getting the achievos. You can just run past most if not all enemies and it won't matter; just try to get 5000 shard thingies so you have a bigger health bar but other than that, there's no use for them. I wish we had a shop to spend these shards to improve strength and such but unfortunately there isn't anything like it... which is very similar to the licensed games I talked about at the beginning of this review. Oh by the way the game only unlocked the achievements for me after I closed it for whatever reason so don't worry if you're not unlocking anything as you're playing.

So lemme explain the reasoning of my title for this review: The first thing that popped in my head while playing Scrat's Deez Nutz was a Fairly Oddparents PS2 game I remember finishing 2~3 times because it was simple and didn't ask much of me other than do the puzzles and the platforming. It was pure fun; a familiar IP that I loved, that carried itself in an otherwise unremarkable platformer and it entertained me as a kid, but I don't know if it would do the same to me now as a 30 year old. Here's the thing, Scrat is hilarious on his own, I decided to keep going mostly because of his antics and noises and also because the platforming is passable but that's it, there's no other incentive if you don't care about Scrat.

It makes me sad that I still feel surprised at these licensed games being so... lame, you know? I get it, not everybody can be a Guardians of the Galaxy but why does most of them are so devoid of life? Scrat's Ligma Nuts feels like a game made in 2003 with modern-ish graphics and lemme reiterate, it is a VERY simple 3D platformer with a wonderful protagonist, weird but hilarious story, questionable camera angles, the same 4~5 boring enemies and useless collectables that left me wanting MORE. I like simple, some times less is more but man... I wish this had more polish and love because I see a ton of potential, the devs weren't that far from something genuinely great here; I'm biased because I love the setting and IP a lot but yeah, this is how I feel.
Oh the final cutscene is ridiculous and I loved it, it made it all worth it just for the laughs I had. lmao

Bottom line is there are much richer, cheaper and better 3D platformers out there that deserve your attention more if you are itching for one, like A Hat In Time. Please don't buy it at full price.
Now if you got this game cheap in a bundle or in a trade like me, definitely give it a shot if you have any sort of nostalgia for ole Scrat because he carries this empty shell of a game with grace and a NUT ton of charisma.

[h1]A bitter slice of nostalgia.[/h1] Remember playing those licensed games from the late 90s~early 00s during a rainy afternoon when you were sick and didn't go to school? Remember how they used to make you feel? Well, that nostalgia is here in Scrat's Nutty Adventure but it showed me how barebones most of these 3D platformers can still be even 20~25 years later. The only reason I'm recommending this game is because it CAN be a very fun adventure! I'll explain why: The story has nothing to do with the other characters from the Ice Age series which at first was a bummer but man, I forgot how much this silly squirrel makes me laugh. I'll admit I kept playing because the noises he makes are glorious. So the idea is basically the same as always has with him, Scrat wants to get the acorn and by doing so he ends up finding a mysterious temple belonging to the Scratazon, an alien race of female squirrels. Yes, the story is bonkers LMAO please don't be like the 'anti-console' loser also reviewing this game using lotsa words and saying absolutely nothing important while also complaining about the HISTORICAL ACCURACY of a game starring a funny squirrel chasing an acorn featuring alien powers in the Ice Age-- holy shid dude what an embarrassment of a person that guy is. Anyway, Scrat finds himself guided by the aliens to find four Crystal Acorns and by doing so, he goes on an adventure unlocking and using a few upgrades given by the aliens as he finds said acorns. Now I used a controller so I cannot comment on KB+M; the controls feel good but they kinda screwed me over a few times and so did the somewhat unresponsive sensitive camera, however nothing gamebreaking. The game felt infinitely better after I got the double jump upgrade; it's the first upgrade you get like, 20~25 minutes into the game. Oh quick reminder that you can't really customize much of the settings. It feels the J.A.W devs just didn't bother or were rushed to make the PC port, which seems a pattern with most games published by Outright Games; most of their games just... lack soul, but thankfully Scrat has more than enough soul to compensate the bitter feeling this game left me. The cutscenes are hilarious; if you grew up watching the Ice Age movies and loved Scrat there, here's as grand if not better! This lil guy is still the best. The soundtrack is pretty decent, it fits the areas of the game and so does the world building and design; the levels aren't gorgeous nor hideous, just cartoony enough to feel like the Ice Age series. Scrat's journey is super short and extremely easy until the last levels where the platforming is a tad challenging and so are the puzzles, but nothing ridiculous; the slides can yeet you sometimes but it's fine, the game doesn't really have any infuriating areas and checkpoints are plenty. You can even 'damage-abuse' jumping on water/lava to skip certain parts of the levels too. Only 1~2 times because 3 times it kills Scrat regardless of his health. Yes, I did everything and I did not regret 100%ing, even though the game doesn't facilitate the completionists but it's ok, just fast traveling to the beginning of each level and redoing them now with all the upgrades isn't a hassle if you really, really want to get all the achievements, it's just boring if anything. About the rest-- most of the collectables aren't necessary aside from getting the achievos. You can just run past most if not all enemies and it won't matter; just try to get 5000 shard thingies so you have a bigger health bar but other than that, there's no use for them. I wish we had a shop to spend these shards to improve strength and such but unfortunately there isn't anything like it... which is very similar to the licensed games I talked about at the beginning of this review. Oh by the way the game only unlocked the achievements for me after I closed it for whatever reason so don't worry if you're not unlocking anything as you're playing. So lemme explain the reasoning of my title for this review: The first thing that popped in my head while playing Scrat's Deez Nutz was a Fairly Oddparents PS2 game I remember finishing 2~3 times because it was simple and didn't ask much of me other than do the puzzles and the platforming. It was pure fun; a familiar IP that I loved, that carried itself in an otherwise unremarkable platformer and it entertained me as a kid, but I don't know if it would do the same to me now as a 30 year old. Here's the thing, Scrat is hilarious on his own, I decided to keep going mostly because of his antics and noises and also because the platforming is passable but that's it, there's no other incentive if you don't care about Scrat. It makes me sad that I still feel surprised at these licensed games being so... lame, you know? I get it, not everybody can be a Guardians of the Galaxy but why does most of them are so devoid of life? Scrat's Ligma Nuts feels like a game made in 2003 with modern-ish graphics and lemme reiterate, it is a VERY simple 3D platformer with a wonderful protagonist, weird but hilarious story, questionable camera angles, the same 4~5 boring enemies and useless collectables that left me wanting MORE. I like simple, some times less is more but man... I wish this had more polish and love because I see a ton of potential, the devs weren't that far from something genuinely great here; I'm biased because I love the setting and IP a lot but yeah, this is how I feel. Oh the final cutscene is ridiculous and I loved it, it made it all worth it just for the laughs I had. lmao Bottom line is there are much richer, cheaper and better 3D platformers out there that deserve your attention more if you are itching for one, like A Hat In Time. Please don't buy it at full price. Now if you got this game cheap in a bundle or in a trade like me, definitely give it a shot if you have any sort of nostalgia for ole Scrat because he carries this empty shell of a game with grace and a NUT ton of charisma.