Price: £4.99 Nintendo Switch eShop (copy provided for review)
Developer: Slain Mascot
Publisher: Flynn's Arcade
The best present I got last year was working Joy-Cons back from Nintendo, taking advantage of their free drift repair service. Now, I can play Super Spy Raccoon properly, without the clunky portable setup of a second controller dangling out the USB port.
The latest in Flynn's fun series of retro games (see Cash Cow DX and the epic Donut Dodo), SSR is a platform jumping title that really takes gaming back to basics with the simple premise of avoiding been seen.
Hide behind bushes, lurk on a rare unobserved platform or use the magic invisibility spray, there are many ways for our hero Romeo Raccoon to sneak past the guards that protect each document across the single-screen levels. His only ability is to jump, and each must be well-timed to avoiding landing near or on guards, or too far from cover in the blink it takes them to turn around.
I Spy, Super Spy Raccoon
Owls look this way and that, baboons stalk levels at speed, robots float around discharging lasers, and searchlights pierce the gloom, as you plan how to get the files in the best-bonus scoring order. Or take a lower-risk approach.
Then rush into action before dashing for cover, or aim for a best time with some perfect leaps across the scenery to minimise time loss while risking instant loss of one of your three lives.
And that's really it, a brilliantly simple idea in the vein of Impossible Mission, with an organic feel and tight-as-a-nut gameplay thanks to working controllers! Soundtracked by some suitably spy chase chiptunes, and minimal effects, don't come looking for a deep and meaningful experience.
Make it past a few levels and you're rewarded with new suits, but they're purely cosmetic, and with only five levels, SSR is a little short on the action compared to the titles mentioned above. If you're competitive, you can upload your score to a global leaderboard.
But for anyone who remembers the original one-trick hits including the likes of Konami's Mikie or Bounty Bob, you're guaranteed a short burst of challenging fun.
3/5
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