If you enjoyed games like Mario Brothers and Sonic, you’ll love this side-scrolling platform game from Dayterium. Alex Gordon, cool cat and treasure hunter, finds a mysterious amulet as he explores an island cave. The gems from the amulet disappear, and so does his sister as she is carried off by minions of the evil monkey king. Alex must now find the jewels and rescue his sister.
Your task is to guide Alex through each level, collecting coins, gems and stars while facing different foes in the form of turtles, pandas and sharp-toothed fish. But just to keep Alex from feeling too overwhelmed, he’s got his own feline pep squad in the form of a pom-pom waving cheerleader who appears along the way to raise his spirits. To dispatch the baddies you jump on their heads and they promptly turn into coins to reward you. You have a choice of either mouse or keyboard controls and there are lots of helpful arrows and messages along the way to guide you. Between levels you can visit Alex’s retirement island and use the money you’ve collected to outfit it for retirement in style. It’s a nice addition to the game and provides a pleasant diversion.
The graphics are colorful and appealing. The different levels each have their own background and increasingly difficult maze you must negotiate to find the stars and gems. The numbers of monsters that hamper your progress increase, but their distinctive colors and detail help to distinguish them from friendlier passersby.
Alex has a very small repertoire of vocalizations, the extent of which is to make an exclamation of physical effort while jumping. I would have liked more. The music which starts off as a pleasant and relaxing island melody may get irritating after a long period of play. It’s not intrusive, but it would be nice if the music changed from level to level.
Although there’s nothing terribly innovative about this game, it’s a solid concept with challenges enough to keep you playing long past the 60 minute trial period. The 50 game and 15 bonus levels guarantee you will not get bored quickly. Like all side-scrollers, you learn the tricks of finding the most treasure in each level as you play, so you won’t mind playing again even if you do manage to finish the game. The challenge and playability of this game make it one to purchase for yourself or the whole family to enjoy over and over again.
Overall Rating: 4/5
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