Do you remember Felix the Cat? If you’re within my age range, chances are that your only relationship with the name is hearing it in passing, but never being sure where you first heard it. If you’re a generation or two before mine, then you would remember Felix the Cat as one of animation’s first icons. With a legacy that dates back to 1919, Felix’s adventures have spanned across mediums from the cartoons that spawned him to comics, films, and, yes, even video games. Konami’s Felix the Cat originally released for the NES and Gameboy in 1993, and now Konami has rereleased the North American, Japanese, and Gameboy versions of Felix’s pixelated adventure on modern consoles nearly thirty years later.
Felix the Cat’s plot is simple. A mad scientist known only as “The Professor” has kidnapped Felix’s girlfriend Kitty in an attempt to use her to get Felix’s magic bag, and Felix has to battle his way through 9 different worlds to get her back. Like Mario, it’s a simple, barebones premise that is basically just there to give context to why Felix is jumping his way through different levels. I will say, though, seeing iconic characters like Rock Bottom and Master Cylinder appear as bosses will probably give Felix Fanatics a jolt of nostalgia. The game’s presentation, from recreating Felix and his supporting cast to making each level look distinct, is top notch.
As for gameplay, Felix the Cat is a very competent platformer.The Professor’s fanatical desire for Felix’s bag is well-placed as the cartoon cat can use it to access a good variety of abilities and vehicles to blast through levels. Starting out, Felix can use his magic bag to pull out a mechanical boxing glove to fight enemies. Levels contain magic coins bearing Felix’s likeness, and players can collect these coins to upgrade Felix’s magic attacks. These upgrades don’t last, however, as you can lose your current ability by either taking a hit or by letting the timer on it run out, though you can collect Felix coins to gain milk and increase the timer on your current ability.
This creates a solid gameplay feel that prioritizes learning your current ability and how to best use it as well as taking your time to avoid enemies and pitfalls. There’s also a good amount of level variety, with each level type having their own unique abilities. Standard ground levels will see you use a magic hat that projects stars around Felix as well as a tank, sky levels will give you a hot air balloon and an attack plane, and underwater levels will see you use a submarine to maneuver through undersea environments. While the controls in many of these levels feel polished to maneuver through, the regular water levels are a rough patch. They require you to jump in and out of the water to gain height and avoid enemies, and the physics don’t feel as polished as they do in the other levels.
Despite that, Felix the Cat is a perfectly functional platformer. The power ups are fun to discover, use, and maintain. Though it is incredibly easy, I don’t fault it for that as I can tell it’s just trying to be a fun time. If you’re into character or just into retro platformers from the NES era of games, I can easily recommend Felix the Cat.
I give it a 7/10
For more information visit: https://www.konami.com/games/felixthecat/
Related: Reviews by Josh Freeman
I love games and love talking about games. Some of my favorites include action games (both 2D and 3D), metroidvanias, roguelikes, shooters, and Indies.
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