Developer: Shimada Kikaku Publisher: Hudson Soft Release: 10/92 Genre: Platformer
The NES is no stranger to licensed games. Outside of the Atari 2600 it is probably the platform the majority of older gamers unfortunately encountered this genre of games. Unfortunately the going was rough in the early days as the likes of LJN and Activision were seemingly in competition to see who could shit out the worst tripe cheaply. But by 1990 developers had the license thing figured out as the likes of Capcom, Konami, and Sega were spinning gold out of the most unlikely properties. Felix the Cat like Little Nemo is a bit obscure. But just like that game it is no less great and one of the most pleasant surprises of the NES’ late life.
Felix the Cat is a cartoon character from 1919, during the silent film era. He actually predates Disney and at one point was one of the most popular cartoon characters in history. With such a pedigree I can see why Hudson Soft chose to make a video game out of his exploits. The game adaptation is based on his 1958 reincarnation where his personality underwent a shift to be more kid friendly and he received his now signature magic bag of tricks. I remember this game due to Gamepro’s glowing review where it received perfect scores across the board. While I would not go that far Felix the Cat is a lot better than it initially seems.
In terms of mechanics Felix the Cat is simple. Felix runs and jumps like any platform hero. He collects Felix tokens like coins with one hundred awarding an extra life. You will even enter pipes like a certain plumber that lead to more items. But the game does a lot more with these tokens and that is where its charm lies. Initially his default attack is a punching glove from his magic bag. For every ten Felix tokens you collect a heart drops that increases your magic level. Each level awards a new weapon from the bag that is more fantastical. At level 2 Felix gains a cape and hat and creates a field of stars that damages all enemies surrounding him. Level three puts Felix in a motorbike with a deadly horn attack. At the max level Felix pilots a tank with a bouncing ball for an attack!
The magic system is fairly balanced in a number of ways. Magic is represented as hearts and beyond the first level it will constantly drop after a few seconds. Once you run out of hearts your current weapon drops a level. Taking a hit will also drop it a level too. However every five tokens produces three milk bottles that replenishes it. As well you still get hearts for every ten that fully replenishes the meter as well. Unless you truly suck at video games you will rarely spend much time as regular Felix as tokens are plentiful. Power-ups carry over between levels and worlds as well.
Felix the Cat is a long game but does not overstay its welcome. That is because it alternates frequently. There are three kinds of stages: outdoor levels with a heavy emphasis on platforming, indoor stages with tight corridors and traps and vehicles based levels. The regular stages feature strong level design although it can be a bit spartan at times. That is what holds them back from true excellence. The vehicle stages are a breath of fresh air as they often feature unique transformations. You use an umbrella that upgrades to hot air balloon and an airplane. The water levels are just as varied; on the surface you have a rowboat that becomes a dolphin (!). Underwater Felix uses a snorkel but can upgrade to a turtle and eventually a submarine.If the game leaned in to the transformations more it could have been excellent. But what is here is solid.
As befitting of a platformer that is targeting children Felix the Cat is easy. Even though Felix dies in one hit every power-up is essentially allows an extra hit. Like I said before you will rarely play as normal Felix because of the lacking challenge. You can easily rack up extra lives. Normally you need one hundred tokens for an extra life. But once you have the tank every twenty grants an extra life. Boss battles have simple patterns like the early Sonic the Hedgehog games and are not the slightest bit difficult. This one relies on charm to keep you entertained rather than difficult platforming. There is nothing wrong with that; we like the Kirby games even though they are relatively simple on their first run.
In Closing
Felix the Cat is the definition of solid. It hits all the right notes and is charming and creative. It only lacks that one creative spark that would put it over the top. Regardless this is an enjoyable platformer that would probably have been more popular were it released a few years earlier. Time has not dulled the great gameplay in this one and it is not more accessible thanks to the compilation from Limited Run Games.
