Summary of review:
Worth a whirl if it is available to you or on sale. Although it has its problems it is a fairly decent and challenging platform puzzler with childish (some would say charming) graphical design. However if you do not have a controller (Gamepad) i cannot reccommend this game to you as this game is near impossible to play on a keyboard due to very awkward key bindings i have been unable to change (heaven knows i've tried).
Pros:
- Increasing level of difficulty with each zone, and unlike most platformer games this one is actually challenging at times.
- Large variety of obstacles, or "enemies" in the game as every enemy gets (almost) completely replaced per new area.
- Different "levels" to each map as there is a challenge in each map, there is general completion with 100% lugnut pick-up and golden bolt pick-up, Golden bolts will unlock new areas. On top of that there is an overall completion score which will grade you (general school grades) based on how much time you used, Whether or not you fell off the platform, how many lugnuts and how many golden bolts you got etc. Giving each level a certain replayability as you try to obtain different goals.
- Very bright, but not so much so that I suffered from it. I tend to get severe headaches and nausea if a game is too bright or the contrast and fine detail of the game is too prominent. This game however was no problem at all. If you suffer with headaches from games, like me, this one will likely not give you any trouble graphic-vise.
Cons:
- Insanely annoying audio.
- Very childish graphic style. Considering how difficult the game can be the game then either becomes too difficult for its target child audience or too childish looking for its target adult audience. Either way you look at it there's a problem there.
- In game shop is both unnecessary and overpriced. When you earn up to 40 lugnuts - if you're lucky - and a single item in the shop will cost you approx. 1000 lugnuts the effort needed to put in to purchase a single item is just not worth it. Regardless the game shop mostly just offers different characters and various personal graphic choices. There is one side of boosters which are cheaoer (200-400 lugnuts) but still overpriced and just really not all that worth it as far as I see it.
Independent points:
- Much more difficult on keyboard, the key binding is off and it all just becomes really very awkward on the keyboard, so i would highly reccomment using a gamepad for this one.
Review: (for summary, look at top of review)
Albeit the game starts off very juvenile and crummy looking/sounding there is a certain sence of quality to the difficulty of the puzzles you will be faced with and a limited time to boot. Although being a timed puzzle-like platform game with challenging sections I have not at all stressed playing this game. It is difficult but enjoyable once you get past the childisness of the design of it along with the crude and, to be perfectly honest, incredibly annoying game sounds.
I tried playing this game with keyboard and mouse first and found it close to impossible and had destinct distate for hte game at the time because of how it did not integrate well with the keybord at all. However, after giving it a short with a gamepad I have found myself actually enjoying my game time and the difficulty of the levels as it is my own inabilit I have to fight with in order to fully finish maps, and not the awkwardness of poor key designation.
I recommended the game, although it is more of a so-so game in my book because it is worth a go if it is on sale, It is a good platform puzzler, but it has its downfalls, which, for me, includes the graphic style of choice along with the completely useless in-game shop. It seems more proof of poor planning and far too high expectations of the player rather than an atribute that brings any form of new level of involvement in the game.
