SabreWulf

This weird take on jumping around in 2D gets its hooks (and fangs) in you.

Rare cranks up the quirk with Sabrewulf, a simple, unassuming, and hard-to-dislike platformer about an old British explorer with a giant safari hat and an ageless wolf that hides shiny things in 2D side-scrolling lairs.

Benefiting from the WarioWare philosophy of quick tidbits of varied gameplay, Sabrewulf offers tons and tons of levels that you can (mostly) blow through in under a minute each. Each stage consists of two halves: (1) avoiding monsters to get to the end, using the powers of various animals you?ve collected and bought; and (2) running back to the beginning as quickly as possible once you steal a treasure back from the ?Wulf. Level designs that would have been a bore in other 2D platformers don?t seem dull in this quick-hit structure thanks to the animal-puzzle hook and the whole ?racing? aspect.

The graphics are typical of other Rare GBA games (Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong Country), providing well-conceived 3D-looking sprites that get a bit mushy once sluiced through the GBA?s visual mechanisms. The sound is good with funny grunts and mumbles, and the music is a treat, sounding (intentionally or not) like a whimsical version of the Braveheart soundtrack. The main character?s jumping skills aren?t the tightest in the universe, though, and the creature selection menu presentation could have used a little more thought, but otherwise Sabrewulf really is a neat little game. It?s light on substance but high on charm?a creative spin on the generic

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