Beetle Ju Gold

Given my entirely irrational fear of almost every insect on Earth, I can't imagine leaping to the defence of a pack of mosquitoes – even if, as Beetle Ju Gold's title suggests, there was some serious remuneration on offer.

Whether such treasures ever materialise in Butterfly-Effected's ode to all things small and pesky is another matter.

What's for sure is that taking on Beetle Ju Gold means rescuing scores of the blighters, each one laying motionless in a serious of maze like levels.

Taking control of what looks like a beetle, you traverse the grid-based levels in any direction of your choosing, the idea being – much like in Sega classic Flicky – to pick up the mosquitoes dotted around each stage before dropping them off at the handy doorways that decorate the game's passages.

There are two hazards to overcome along the way, however, one being the sheer design of the stages themselves.

Navigating the narrow corridors that make up the bulk of the levels is a question of using the game's properties to your advantage.

Cubes filled with cheese, for example, are no hassle and can be eaten up in a second. However, behind them will often lie more solid squares that can block your route to further mosquitoes if disturbed.

It's then that your special weapon – a series of bombs – is brought into play.

In much the same fashion as Bomberman, the trick here is to lay the explosive before hot footing it off to a safe distance before a 3x3 grid gets blown to smithereens.

Such tools also come in handy when taking on beasts that patrol the stages, although levels come with a finite number of bombs, meaning avoidance is often the best tactic.

Combine the two elements and you have a puzzler that falls back on platforming staples, offering familiar prudent, precise gameplay served up in an especially unfamiliar setting.

It's this very decision to mirror so many former glories that is Beetle Ju Gold's downfall. While it makes no massive mistakes, the game never really settles into any kind of rhythm of its own, aping many a master but never bettering one.

Beetle Ju Gold may not be terrible, but this composite of classics sadly is utterly forgettable.