As you may know already, Remezcla is a huge fan of the Chupacabra, whether we’re merely educating you about its history, range, and habits around Halloween-y time, or being all grossed out by pictures of its recent appearance on a San Diego beach. So when a friend told me there was a Chupacabra game for the iPhone, I immediately downloaded it. Actually, that’s not true: first I yelled “WHAT?!” and then downloaded it when I recovered.
Lo and behold, there is, in fact, a Chupacabra based iPhone game, though it’s released under the misleading title Chupacabra. (That’s sarcasm, folks.) Of the game, Venevision Mobile LLC has to say:
The frightening Chupacabra has evolved; now, it’s back and hungrier than ever. With an arsenal of new power ups it’s ready to terrorize all the goats of the region. Download the new update of CHUPACABRA on your iPhone.
Simple enough, right? The game follows the green protagonist as her runs inexorably to the right, and you tap the screen to make him jump, roll, or use special abilities to avoid trees, rocks, and pitfalls. All the while, your “blood meter” runs down, sped up by taking damage, and you can only refill it by eating goats – which explode in plumes of blood and bones – and other tasty, tasty animals. The graphics are cute, though I wish they weren’t so repetitive, and the controls and game mechanics are a tad wonky, but as the latest update’s proud announcement “NOW WITH LEVELS!” would seem to indicate, this is a bit of a work in progress.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, though, if you go to Venevision’s website, you’re in for a surprising Latino treat if you check out the company’s other games. First, there’s King Bandido:
After rescuing Alejandro from an attack by the royal guard, The Count of Alhambra decides to take the young man under his wing and train him so he can stand up to the evil crown and bring justice to the town of Giralda.
Help Alejandro on his quest to become a hero, train in The Count’s secret cave and see how many points you can score before you run out of time. Train to become as quick as a ninja and precise as the most skilled of the musketeers. Do you have what it takes to put on the vigilante mask and restore freedom to Giralda?
Then there’s Jose Comes to USA:
Love knows no boundaries. Jose, a good Mexican kid, meets the love of his life Jenny, a beautiful “gringuita”, on the Internet. But when Jenny invites Jose to her prom, the love story goes south as Jose decides to go north! The immigration officer in charge turns out to be none other than Jenny’s father and he unjustly denies Jose entrance to USA. But Jose is a luchador, and he would stop at nothing to be with Jenny! Help Jose in his journey through the treacherous lands to cross the border. Help a cuate in need!
There’s restaurant sim/puzzle game Mister Miguel’s, and Novelera, and the trivia games Novelera and Futbolero.
Holy crap: there’s a company making games for Latinos about Latinos.
Chupacabra itself isn’t great, but neither is crack, and both are cheap and addictive. I’d give it a download – carajo, it’s free! – and look more into Venevision’s upcoming projects.