Felix The Cat (Hudson Soft 1992)

Besides being one of the scariest wall mounted clocks ever made, Felix The Cat is also the star of his own children's cartoon series. This appears to be the market Hudson is aiming at with this platform release as anyone over the age of ten will most likely breeze through the game on their first try. Just because it's a short and easy children's title doesn't mean it's bad though. Hudson has obviously taken a look at all the best platform titles out there and borrowed some ideas while incorporating a bit of originality into the mix as well.

The game starts off with Felix being harassed over the phone by some evil professor who has taken Felix's girlfriend Kitty hostage. From there it's ten levels of platform action as you battle your way through hordes of strange creatures with the aid of your magic bag. As usual you are collecting tokens (Felix icons in this case) which are scattered all over the place. The twist is that these are actually handier than the usual points and 1-ups usually bestowed by such trinkets. While Felix starts out with a meagre boxing glove, he will undergo a magical transformation for every ten tokens he collects. Some of these forms are quite cool (a big tank for example) and the best part is that they can change from stage to stage. Since some levels take place in the air or underwater, Felix will be able to fly in a hot air balloon or even ride on the back of a dolphin.

The levels themselves are bright and colourful but apart from a brief trip into space not that original. Strangely for a kiddies' title, it only takes one hit to kill Felix although if you have transformed into something else you merely go back to your previous form. It's still very easy though as levels are packed with tokens and you usually respawn very close to where you died. Enemies are easily dealt with and the bosses do little to slow down your progress. The inclusion of a time limit to each level is a bit puzzling for a children's title though.

I'm not that familiar with the cartoon series but the music in the game does a good job of capturing that cartoon spirit. A few more tunes would have spiced things up a bit but what's here isn't too bad. Controls are very responsive and even while rampaging about in a mini-tank you feel in control.

It's easy to dismiss Felix the Cat as just another children's game but compared to other titles in this category ( the abysmal Barbie games for example ) it's actually quite good. Hudson actually put some effort into this release and it shows. It's a pity that they didn't include a difficulty setting so more experienced players could have a challenge as well. The bottom line is if you are too young or don't have the skills to complete titles like Super Mario Brothers this is a great place to start and hone your skills.

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