One of the best Pokemon clones is officially getting a sequel, but there's a catch

Although they were once quite scarce, Pokémon clones are fairly common across all gaming platforms in the late 2020s, and one in particular stands out as a highlight of the niche. Cassette Beasts 2002the unexpected sequel to the 80s-based Cassette animalaims to take the original concept and develop it in some unexpected ways, but there's a catch with how its multiplayer works.

Cassette animal' unique take on creature fusion was just one of the reasons why the game was as critically acclaimed as it was. With a compelling story, interesting characters and an incredible number of over 14,400 unique creature fusions to hunt down, Cassette animal showed how far the creature-capturing formula could go. The sequel, of course, aims to expand on all of these things further, and will be on any genre fan's radar.

Family

New Pokemon-Like Sci-Fi Game Launches on Steam to 94% Very Positive Reviews

If you're looking for an alternative to Palworld or its obvious inspiration, Pokemon, this promising Steam game might be worth picking up.

Cassette Beasts 2002 changes the way its Co-Op works

Cassette animal had many things working in its favor, but one of its most interesting features was the local co-op support. Cassette animal' co-op multiplayer worked remarkably well across the board, but its local hotseat functionality meant players didn't need the internet to play. Unfortunately, Cassette Beasts 2002 seems to be limited to online co-op only this time if its Steam page is correct. Specific though Cassette Beasts 2002 lists singleplayer, online PvP and online co-op as options to play, local co-op is nowhere to be seen, suggesting it has been removed from the feature list.

Place the brackets in the correct order.

Light (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)

Game Rant reached out for clarification but did not receive a response at press time, but if the Steam page is correct, Cassette Beasts 2002 losing a potentially extremely important option for some players. While hotseat isn't as popular as it once was, having the ability to play local multiplayer is still a big deal, especially in a creature-capturing game like Cassette animalwhere almost none of its competitors have co-op to begin with. Most other decent monster taming games simply opt for PvP multiplayer for convenience, whereas Cassette animal' creature fusion mechanics lend themselves particularly well to co-op.

An early playing sample of dialogue from Cassette Beasts 2002.

Since there's been no clarification yet, it's possible that local Co-Op fell through when developer Bytten Studio set up the Steam page for Cassette Beasts 2002. On the other hand, it is equally possible that the hot seat was not very popular with players in the first one Cassette animalswhich leads to the function being canceled in the sequel. Local co-op games don't come along very often, so it would be a shame to see the series ditch the feature entirely.

Find the odd one before the timer reaches zero.

Light (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)Permadeath (5s)

granted, Cassette Beasts 2002 may lose some players before multiplayer even enters the discussion. While the first game took its aesthetics, soundtrack, and general vibe from the 1980s, 2002 takes place in the early aughts instead. This means a completely different look and feel to the title, which some may not be too fond of. Fortunately, there are more than a few creature collecting games to choose from these days, such as horror and cryptic themed Encryptidso those disappointed by what is shown here simply need to keep looking.