Game Reviews

Pix the Cat

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| Pix The Cat
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Pix the Cat
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| Pix The Cat

Pix the Cat absolutely loves being a video game.

It's a game acutely aware of its retro inspirations, and it proudly wears them on its sleeve. With its neon colour palette, maze-based gameplay, and hyperactive sense of energy, Pix the Cat wouldn't seem too out of place in an early '90s arcade.

But, at the same time, it would still totally stand out from the pack.

It's almost impossible to describe Pix the Cat without referring to Snake and Pac-Man. Just like these classics, you play across a range of single-screen stages, moving rigidly in straight lines, and collecting bits and bobs to increase your score counter.

However, rather than popping pills, here you're rounding up ducks and bringing them home - just like real cats don't.

Hot tin roof

You might feel like you've popped a few pills, though. Pix the Cat follows the trend of so many modern arcade tributes by taking the psychadelic energy of the era and really ramping it up a notch.

The music starts off with laid-back electronic tunes and pleasant basslines, but can turn into frantic, brain-addling techno at the drop of a hat. The backdrops pulsate in vivid panels of colour, like gaudy lights in a '90s nightclub.

And then, of course, there's Fever Mode. This is activated when your combo reaches a certain height, and presents what is possibly Pix the Cat's greatest success.

Not only does it let you gobble up nasties rather than avoiding them, it also provides such a palpable audiovisual reward for playing well, with the whole screen basking in a brilliant white light and Pix enjoying a burst of additional speed.

Buzzing around the screen in a frenzied blur feels great, even if you lose track of where you're going in the heat of the moment.

But if you fail to keep the momentum going, like a record scratching to a halt, there's a painfully sudden return to normality that will leave you feeling somewhat bereft.

Some games make you want to play well purely to get bigger numbers. And while there's undoubtedly a value to that, it's a testament to Pix the Cat's quality that the desire to play well is rooted in something more instinctive - the better you play, the better the game looks, sounds, and feels.

Curiosity

Levels in Pix the Cat are made up of layers, and have you drilling into the very circuitry of the stage to find new areas. The deeper the layer, the tougher things get - especially as your timer edges ever nearer to zero.

This onion-like structure of the game's levels is a far more interesting way of framing an A to B procession of screens, at least aesthetically.

Seeing Pix shrink, rather like a feline Alice, to fit into a postage stamp-sized maze is a neat touch, and watching the camera zoom out when you die reveals how far you've progressed.

But, bells and whistles aside, Pix the Cat is just a solid arcade-style game. The mechanics at its core are built on well-established foundations, and it's all the better for it.

It brings very little that's completely new to the table - a long trail of ducks functions no differently to a long tail in Snake, for instance. And even as a celebration of what makes arcade gaming great, it is lacking a little when compared to the likes of TxK.

But then, that's by no means a fair comparison. Pix the Cat is gorgeous, knowing, and ridiculously playable. And if you saw it sitting in a grimy arcade, you'd be reaching for your coinage in no time.

Pix the Cat

An arcade experience so authentic it'll have you shoving 10p coins in your Vita's cartridge slot
Score
Matt Suckley
Matt Suckley
Achingly contrarian. Proud owner of an N-Gage and a PSP Go. Matt spends most of his time writing about indie games of which you've never heard. Like that one, yes. Matt is an English student, and largely terrible at games. Go figure.