Kudzu, the Gameboy adventure from Pie for Breakfast and Mega Cat Studios, is a wonderful reminder that video games are art forms in more ways than one. Besides being majestic and thought provoking or inexplicably dull and preachy, video games can also be crafted in different mediums, just like art. Had Michaelangelo’s David been a painting instead of a statue, I doubt the majesty and the grandeur would have endured. Yet countless developers take games and transfer them into different forms with surprising results, such as Doom RPG or the Elden Ring Gameboy demake. So it’s not terribly surprising that a modern creator looked at the monochromatic palette of the Gameboy and its tinny sound chip and decided “this is how my new game will be wrought.” What is surprising, however, is the execution.

Kudzu is an intriguing adventure/action game starring Max, an apprentice gardener who is trying to learn the ins and outs of gardening from his master, Zoen. Max and Zoen are both dealing with this unusual strain of the titular plant that seems to be growing, covering and spreading everywhere. When Zoen goes missing, Max takes it upon himself to go find his teacher. Max immediately realizes that there is a whole world out there that is feeling the effects of this kudzu and the hyper intelligent plant life that seems to be sprouting up as a result. Max must navigate dungeon-like mazes as he works out plant puzzles, defeats ornery insects and discovers the shocking story behind the kudzu, and what it might mean for life itself.

Also, killing spiders. like, just constantly killing spiders once you meet them. And snails. Spiders and snails.

If you’ve ever picked up titles like Final Fantasy Adventure or The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, you have a decent idea of what to expect from Kudzu. Starting off purely as a “walk around and don’t die” title, Max quickly picks up a machete, the weapon of choice for anyone dealing with dangerous flora and fauna. Each level will have a map that seems to go every which way, and, initially, might be a bit difficult to navigate. Max has a limited amount of hearts, but thankfully can heal at any point as long as he has some kudzu jelly on him, and it drops rather frequently from monsters. Max will eventually find more items in the dungeons to help explore further and further, and can also use mushrooms (the game’s currency) to buy some extra goodies to make things even smoother.

Kudzu proudly promotes itself as a non-linear adventure game, and that’s mostly somewhat true. While you can absolutely move a bit around the map and explore the levels in whatever capacity you’d like, there’s a very clear directionality that cannot be ignored. The second dungeon isn’t accessible until you get the Garden Key, and you can’t even find the gate for said key until you beat the first dungeon. If you don’t find the hoe to till rocky soil, you’ll never get to the boss to move ahead to the next location, and so on and so forth. The closer you get to the end of the game the more freedom of choice expounds, but a lot of those are “go back to old dungeons and get some treasure chests you couldn’t before.”

Dude, I just sat down, you talked, and now you’re sending me to bed. Let me at least try the tilapia.

Graphically, I adore the sprite work and choices that permeate the world of Kudzu. Human characters are all distinct and detailed unless they’re specifically not meant to be (such as the repetitious cavalcade of scientists). Enemies have plenty of variety, each fitting into this world where plants, animals and ghosts (yes, ghosts) are working against you from all angles. I never had problems differentiating between the different terrains or the different gates, and navigation was clear and easy.. Awash in Gameboy green, there was a homey, nostalgic feeling throughout, and the border choices were the right call for bringing this 8-bit botany lesson to the Switch. Keeping things at a tight resolution made it more satisfying, and really inspired me to see how this game looks on my actual Gameboy. Sadly, the game isn’t currently available as a rom, but I’ll keep an eye out in the future.

Most of Kudzu was a simple but enjoyable loop that asked the player to enter a dungeon, do their best to find Truffles the cat and buy a map. If you were wise, you also bought the compass from the town so you knew where you were on said map and didn’t just guess your location through trial and error. Defeat enemies, heal when needed, pick up mushrooms and eventually find the boss. Getting there usually meant kudzu mechanics, which is when you figure out how to allow the plant to grow so it can trigger certain levers or things like that. You also get some classic dungeon puzzles, like “push rocks onto switches” or “defeat all monsters.” Plus you get to run into the spirits of deceased great gardeners to get exposition and gear, so that’s always fun!

This bizarre looking beast is just one of many weird and exciting bosses that I was able to stomp HARD.

The writing for Kudzu is fun enough, and I think players will enjoy the pacing and quality of what’s been given for NPCS, Max and the environment to speak. Since the Gameboy screen doesn’t allow for a ton of text at once, be ready to mash the A button multiple times to get a simple thought like “I’ll go back to the library now” across three or four screens. And yes, there’s a lot of humor shot through the game, but, for better or worse, most of the jokes are corny and may cause the rolling of eyes. I rather enjoyed it because my kids like puns and I’m always one for an easy laugh, but be ready for references and quips that are fairly straightforward.

Musically, Kudzu is an excellent representation of the soundscape that the Gameboy was able to achieve, and I think players should absolutely give the soundtrack a fair listen even if they’re not enthused by the high pitched, chippy music. All areas have their own unique tracks, and there’s plenty of distinct scoring and deliberate atmosphere crafting with every note and beep. The music also helped distract from the fact that some sound effects felt oddly chosen and timed. For example, there’s no sound when you hit an enemy or an enemy hits you, and I was really expecting some kind of cue for when I was suddenly at 50% or 25% health (there are visual representations, but no audio). Yet everytime I picked up a mushroom or a jelly, there was a chirp to tell me I did the thing I meant to do. Curious.

The music for this often-viewed screen was almost good enough to ebb my anger. Almost.

Actually, to be perfectly frank, I think the sound effects are a victim of my biggest complaint in Kudzu: bugs. Not the spiders and beetles you encounter, but the glitchy nature of the game itself. I took a look at the Gameboy version, and I think my problems come from the Switch port itself. The controls are a little sluggish in response, but that could easily be amended. Instead, my problem is a laundry list of smaller things that make a kudzu-wall of frustration. Hit boxes are off and, worse, damage delivery is off. I would run into an enemy and either get hit once, twice or not at all, with no apparent rhyme or reason. If I paused to check my inventory before picking up something, it would disappear, either jam or mushroom. Sometimes kudzu or rocky soil would just respawn regardless of what I just did to it.

Most confusing of all was the roots bug. To access a boss, you have to hunt down and destroy the roots of a plant that was blocking the boss door. Without fail, every time I slew a root, it would count as two. I thought this was on purpose until I unlocked a boss door with at least one root still active somewhere in the dungeon. It was silly, but it spoke more to the glitchiness of the game overall. Heck, it made getting to the bosses easier and also made the boss fights more fun than navigating there: at least the boss was an encapsulated area where the chances for glitch work to pervade was lower (not zero, but less at least).

Yes, but those 99 are game gliches and they’re sapping my will to live, HOV.

Which is a shame, because Kudzu has the potential and really could be fun. It’s not a terrifically long title, but it’s got heart and a proud showing of individuality in both concept and execution. But having the game become so difficult, not because it’s intended to be, but because it’s performing poorly, reminded me less of Goodboy Galaxy and more of Faceball 2000. If there becomes a more economic way to get the straight Gameboy version, I highly recommend that and think it could be exciting for retro enthusiasts and modern players. This Switch emulation version, however, is an overgrown thicket of bugs, and you should probably stay far away until the exterminator comes.

Kudzu is available now on Game Boy and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Kudzu was provided by the publisher.