Escape from Bug Island

The most disappointing thing about this move into silliness is that it arrives in the game just as Spike begins to get their insect threat act together. They introduce fat, hairy caterpillars that fall out of trees, their garish body colors sitting uncomfortably with the muted greens of the foggy landscapes. And when you stumble into a gorge full of crickets jumping in unison, you’re more than adequately reminded of the gruesome potential of the swarm.

Faced with overwhelming numbers, it’s time to turn bug-exterminator, and due to their size, it’s going to take more than a rolled-up newspaper to bring this lot down. It calls for some rock throwing - or some rough and ready melee bug-whacking with a variety of sticks, clubs and machetes, conveniently scattered about the woodland environments.

Projectiles are thrown by entering into a first-person mode with the A button directing your sights with the remote pointer a la Red Steel, before - and here’s where the stupid alert begins to flash - holding B to lock your view in place before flicking the remote to throw a rock. Considering that you’re often fighting scattering creatures, by the time you’ve locked and made a throwing gesture they’ve probably run off - not helped by the agonizing delay between gesture and throwing action.