Wheeler's Treasure

Like learning to walk all over again, getting your sea legs is among the first rites of passage for any sailor. Instinctively finding your footing amidst the bucking of the waves is a coming of age matter for any novice seamen, but gold-seeking pirate Wheeler seems to have more trouble on terra firma than the high seas.

It's the life of a landlubber that poses a problem in Wheeler's Treasure, inadequate controls causing this highly original platform adventure to walk the plank.

As fortune-hunting pirate Wheeler, you're on a mission to collect gold coins, crimson rubies, and treasure chests filled with rarities. Finding them is a matter of carting a massive wheel through side-scrolling stages, using it to overcome pools of fire, tar, and other pitfalls.

Keeping the wheel's wooden planks intact is just as important as preserving Wheeler's life. Cannonballs, bombs, and fiery rocks break apart the wheel, but you can issue repairs using coins collected as you roll through a level. Enemies have to be dealt with all the while, either evaded or dispatched with well-timed jumps.

You do this by flicking a finger across the screen to send Wheeler leaping in the corresponding direction. Unfortunately, such controls prove ill-equipped to deal with the fast, unpredictable action. An alternate control option is needed because flinging Wheeler about the screen yields more frustration than fun.

The motion of the wheel, random enemies, and environmental obstacles affect Wheeler in unexpected ways. Instead of exerting mastery over these elements, she ends up tossed about like a buoy in a storm. You never feel like you've got a handle on things, some unseen enemy flying in to take a cheap shot or a gap in the ground swallowing you up unexpectedly.

It doesn't help that you can take damage from the wheel. While you can hop into the wheel from behind, approaching it from the front is suicide - it crushes you, taking a big chunk of health in the process. Eliminating this would dramatically ease frustration without ruining the game's stiff challenge. [Correction: Although Wheeler flashes red and appears to have taken damage when rolled over by the wheel, no damage is done. Instead, you're stunned temporarily.]

It's a shame Wheeler's Treasure doesn't possess better controls because its concept sparkles with originality. More precise controls, alternative schemes, and some minor tweaks to gameplay would have made this a gem. Right now, it's more like a wobbly sailor setting foot on firm land after months at sea.