Flyhunter Origins

Flyhunter Origins is delightful from the onset. The game has humor, and it's graphically pleasing. It was created by former Pixar members, which accounts for the appealing look and feel. At it's heart, this is a side-scrolling, arcade-style platform game, divided into plot points and levels associated with key story elements. Players navigate the levels or chase escaped flies through a maze, grabbing collectibles scattered through each stage along the way. At the end of each level, a score is displayed based on performance.

Levels can be short or long, depending on how much time the player puts into collecting everything that's been scattered around every stage. But the extra challenge comes in dealing with bugs, which are constantly a threat to Zak's adventure. There are several different weapons that can be used to dispatch smaller bugs, but larger bugs need to be avoided, which requires strategy and quick reflexes. Unfortunately, the game's camera doesn't reveal enough of a level to anticipate threats, so players may have to respawn a lot as they're trying to navigate each stage, which could be frustrating for younger players. Fortunately, the game does have numerous respawn points, so overall progress isn't completely lost when you restart. But replayability is limited: The levels aren't dynamically spawned, so you can memorize where items are on subsequent playthroughs. Bottom line? Flyhunter: Origins is an charming throwback to classic adventure games that provides plenty of eye candy and chuckles.