Released in 2010, Blade Kitten is a 2.5D hack-n-slash platformer. It is based on the eponymous webcomic by Steve Stamatiadis (@spacecaptsteve).

In this game, you play a catgirl bounty hunter named Kit Ballard (a.k.a., Blade Kitten), living on the planetoid Hollow Wish, who’s on a quest to track down and capture the outrageous troublemaker Terra-Li.

I am fascinated by this game because it’s such an obscure slice of millennial pop culture. Sure, most people haven’t heard of Blade Kitten, but it’s attained a cult following.

For example, a few days ago, I mentioned Blade Kitten to someone. Beaming, they told me that Blade Kitten was their childhood and that they played the tar out of that game on Xbox Live Arcade. Looking online, I’m seeing similar sentiments from others.

I think the appeal of Kit Ballard to so many people, is that she’s a spunky and clever anime-style catgirl who really speaks in the language of teenage girls, circa 2010. My friend told me that it was the moment in the game when Kit asked if Justice Kreel’s blonde hair was bleached, it was love at first sight. That’s not the kind of humour I get, but it does strike me that Kit has some attitude.

In fact, I see parallels with Sonic the Hedgehog. The obvious game to compare Blade Kitten to is Strider because Kit Ballard is an acrobat with a sword. However, just like Sonic, Kit has plenty of attitude – and she makes no apologies for it.

Blade Kitten’s level design also really reminds me of early Sonic the Hedgehog in that, sure, it’s linear, but there’s many different paths towards getting you to the end. It’s the exploration aspect about this game that I think really works.

Where I feel Blade Kitten overly complicates itself is in the controls. Put simply, there’s a lot to do, and most of the time, I don’t think you really need to do it. Being able to climb walls, that’s cool. But most of the sword mechanics that are introduced at the beginning of the game are a little too much – especially since, for the majority of the game, I simply subsisted on melee attacks.

When this game was released, I felt the graphics for Blade Kitten were somewhat archaic, but my opinion has since changed. The decision to go with cell-shaded polygons was ultimately a good idea, and it really has held up with age.

Another aspect I like about the game is all that colour. While so many other games of the era were too focused on the “grittiness” of dull brown, Blade Kitten blessed us with vivid and beautiful colour. Thank goodness!

Sound is another highlight. The effects are vivid. The voice acting is well performed, and really augments the game’s humour. But also, that synth sountrack is really tasty – and it has lots of funk!

Most modern PCs can play this game. You need a 1.8Ghz dual core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 256MB of VRAM, and 3GB of space. While this game was made natively for Windows, it runs fantastic on Linux via Proton. It is “verified” for Steam Deck, and I confirm it plays great.

In addition to PC, Blade Kitten has been released for Xbox 360 and PS3. However, I believe the definitive version of the game is the PC version, and I’ll mention why in a moment.

There’s no micro-transactions with Blade Kitten, but there’s three pieces of DLC for it. You can get the comic book series (Blade Kitten + Dirty Angels) for C$7.79. As well, you can get the full soundtrack + remixes for C$10.99 – and trust me, it’s a lot of music.

But even more awesome, Episode 2 of Blade Kitten was released in 2015, and that’s also available as DLC! From what I know, Episode 2 is a PC exclusive, and it’s available for C$5.49.

What’s really neat is that you can get the base game, Episode 2, and the comic books series together for C$7.79. That’s one hell of a deal.

Krome Studios developed Blade Kitten. They’re well known for the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series, Wasteland: Remastered, and Hogwarts Legacy.

On Steam, Blade Kitten has an 82% positive rating based on 868 reviews. Many people say that it has an iconic character in Kit Ballard, and is a time capsule of 2010. Detractors say that the controls feel clunky.

At the time Blade Kitten was released, it was met with mixed reviews. But with time, Kit Ballard has been recognized as a fun and witty female protagonist in a genre that doesn’t have enough representation for girls. That’s one big reason my friend loves this game so much: she was 15-years-old when Blade Kitten came on the scene, and Kit Ballard was her version of Mario or Sonic.

Blade Kitten sells for C$3.29 on Steam. With the excellent art and sound, this is tremendous value.

For this reason, I recommend Blade Kitten. I don’t think it’s perfect. The controls can indeed get tedious. However, the art is excellent, the sound is awesome, and Kit Ballard is a wonderful character.