"Don't let that egg break"

Penguin Land is a little puzzle game that reminds me of Ice Climbers with its maze of ice platforms. However, in Penguin Land you'll be going down instead of up. It's a simplistic, but sweet game that is perfect for the Gameboy.

You are controlling a cute penguin trying to carry an egg to the bottom of a maze. The levels are made of several ice platforms, boulders, and enemies (polar bears that are just as cute). You need to push the egg down the platforms, but only those that aren't too high. If the egg falls off from a certain height, it will break. Obviously, you'll need to start over the level if the egg breaks. The polar bears can also break the egg, and so you can yourself if you fall on top of the egg from too high. You'll need to be really careful with it if you want to reach the bottom with the egg safe and sound.

Studying the levels and trying out all of their possibilities is required to get the egg to the bottom. There are a lot of things to take into consideration, like the emplacements of blocks and enemies. The penguin can break thin ice with its beak to allow the egg to fall down to a lower platform, but thick ice can't be broken. You'll also sometimes need to leave the egg on a platform and go down to push a boulder right below the spot where you want the egg to fall. This avoids it from falling from too high and breaking.

The game has 25 different stages, and you can select which one you want to play, you don't have to do them in order. You'll probably spend a lot of time on a single level before completing it though, so it's definitely not an easy game. It should last quite a while, and there might even be some levels you'll give up on. You have three chances before getting Game Over, and you also have a time limit. Reaching the bottom doesn't give you anything, but you'll have the satisfaction of it.

Graphically, the game looks cute and has pretty good sprites for a Gameboy game. It only has three different music tracks that you can select, but it's also very cute sounding. All in all, Penguin Land is a fun game that is also pretty challenging for such a cute game. If you like cute puzzle games, you should try it out.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/13/07