Hooklings

[h1]Only a dead enemy is a good enemy[/h1] Everybody who liked titles like [b]Snowbrothers[/b], [b]Bubble Bobble[/b] or [b]Wani Wani World[/b] will also get a kick out of this one. Whereas the other titles all relied on the pretty safe way, to dispose of an enemy facing away from the character, here you have to reel him in, death-defyingly towards yourself, and this proves to be quite challenging. Most of the time, you need to jump to safety, but there are also other ways. So, as you can't play it safe, encounters end mostly in unpredictable chaos. Not only is the touch of a living or tumbling enemy deadly ([i]and don't forget about fireballs[/i]), no, the dead ones can end your life as well. But to be fair, they also end their comrades life, which gives way to the opportunity of combos. Levels range from plain to absolutley murderous deathpits, if you take a wrong jump. Which you sometimes just have to, to avoid one enemy or when you just need to reel in good positioned bugger. Greed for the fruitbonus and the chance to perform are the most common cause of death... So, I find myself most of the time snickering at the mistakes I made or the seemingly last-second-safety-jumps from the purple waddling cubes. And this selfbemusement is a thing, that doesn't happen too much in this time anymore. Most games try to baffle you with more and more features, effects or grinding-mechanisms. This here is a welcome change of pace with plain, but balanced mechanics, a direct feedback to your actions and always something surprising or gratifying happening. With a slow and fast setting, it is also a great recomondation for kids ... or older gamers! :)