I think the last time I read the original Garfield comic was 1998. Since then, my experience with the character has been one long litany of Garfield memes, specifically: Gorefield memes. For those blissfully unaware, Gorefield is Jim Davis’s version of obese, lasagna-loving house cat who broke the shackles of the comics and became a space abomination. Gorefield has many manifestations: the Gorefields centipede, the Gorefields arachnid, the Gorefields that extend their serpentine necks from a non-flesh bone towards a crouching Jon Arbuckle, demanding to be fed with a voice that sounds Thread like Bill Murray, a voice as deep and velvety as the eternal Monday before the Big Bang.
In Gar-Type, a free-to-play Gorefield fan game from YouTuber and pixel artist LumpyTouch, Garfield became a planet. The good news is that unlike many other Gore variants, this Gorefield is vulnerable to bullets. It’s up to ace pilot Jon Starbuckle and his Gar-Type D prototype fighter to save Earth from Lasagnihilation.
You can facilitate perky Starbuckle by moving your mouse and clicking buttons while the screen scrolls to the right. There’s a frosty charging teleportation attack that I rarely manage to land successfully, even though it’s a game so basic that your real house cat could probably complete it in one sitting. Be sure to time your buff collection as well: they get shuffled around and there’s nothing worse than stocking up on excess health when you really need those bouncing spaghetti beams.
Garfield nostalgia aside, this is quite a slick fan production, with art and sound effects by Lumpy, programming by qkjosh, music by MelonadeM featuring stevedoesmusic, and a 3D fighter model by willkmr. The graphics are Lovecraftian purple and the soundtrack is a special kind of chiptune that induces delicate synesthesia and makes me imagine the smell of Red Bull.
I really like it when developers put their heart and soul into the production values of a video game concept derived from a pun rated 6/10. Not that anyone was right about Gorefield. He sees everything. He’s looking at the top of your head now. He thinks the top of your head looks more like a plate of lasagna.
You can play Gar-field here in your browser. If the above has you salivating for another Gar-horror game, I highly recommend reading Nate’s (RPS in peace) review of Garfield Kart Furious Racing.
