Felix the Cat

"A great game with few flaws."

Introduction

Felix the Cat was a staple cartoon in CBS’s Saturday morning lineup during the early 1990s. The NES game Felix the Cat, made in 1992 by the company Hudson Soft, was based on the cartoon show and featured many of the characters from the show. I originally picked up this game so I could write an FAQ for it, despite the fact that I had never seen the Felix the Cat cartoon in my life. When I played the game, I was very pleased by the gameplay, the audio, and the graphics. Overall, I enjoyed this game. However, it still had its flaws, albeit very few.

Story

The story in this game is not very original. Felix’s arch-nemesis, the Professor, has kidnapped Felix’s girlfriend, Kitty, so Felix must rescue Kitty, yada yada yada. Felix the Cat is just your ordinary “rescue the damsel in distress” game with very few plot twists.

Audio

The music in this game sounds smooth and nice. The tunes aren’t overly complex since they consist entirely of MIDI sounds. They are also pretty catchy, and are of relatively high quality for an NES game. Overall, I enjoyed the music in this game. The sounds in Felix the Cat are fairly decent as well. Some of the sounds are cartoonish, but overall they aren’t terribly annoying. I personally had no problems with the sound effects at all.

Graphics

The graphics in Felix the Cat are superb. The sprites are detailed, the colors are bright, and the backgrounds are way more than decent. The creators of this game pushed the NES to its limit with the graphics in this game. Overall, I was very pleased with the graphics.

Controls

The controls are very basic, so you should have no problem learning them. This game is aimed toward a generally younger audience, so the relative ease and simplicity of the controls are to be expected. Controlling Felix isn’t a big burden, since the game responds to the controller really well. Overall, the controls in this game are well above average.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Felix the Cat is solid. Despite the fact that getting power-ups and extra lives is too easy and defeating most of the bosses doesn’t require much effort, this game is still worth a play. Personally, I think Felix dies too easily, but that is offset by the abundance of extra life opportunities. This game should appeal mostly to younger gamers. The replay value is pretty low, since once you beat the game, you really have no incentive to play through again except if you want to beat your high score. Overall, I was very pleased with the gameplay.

Conclusion -- Buy, rent, or neither?

I would suggest that you buy this game if you enjoyed the Felix the Cat cartoon show or if you’re into old school platformers. If you have children, they might like this game as well. Felix the Cat is a sadly overlooked gem in gaming history that should not be passed up.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/29/03