Critter Round-Up - WiiWare review

Presented with a pen of beasties, you have to fence the animals into separate enclosures without coming into contact with any of them – for that spells instant death. It’s Qix on a farm. A farm of mad. What kind of farmer shoves antagonising breeds in a pen and then tries to solve the problem? What kind of chicken is it that can kill you with a single peck? Why, in the name of all things sane, is a farmer rearing foxes? His agricultural set-up is such a self-hating endeavor we’re not sure we want to help him.

Factor in some furry/feathery behavioural quirks (carnivores pursue herbivores, certain animals stun you, certain animals can hop fences) and what was a high-speed bit of fluff in Qix becomes an irritating exercise in second-guessing animal AI. Power-ups add a smidgen of strategic depth – speed-up, invincibility, carnivore-scaring weapons – and the animals do a groovy boogie when you pen them in, but since when has that ever been a recommendation?

A teeth-grindingly stupid premise belies a few okay gameplay ideas. But you’re better off getting your animal/puzzle fix fromToki Tori.

Jun 27, 2008