Kick & Fennick

Kick & Fennick is the latest offering in a crowded group of side-scrolling platformers, but what could have been a very mediocre outing turns out to be a truly unique title thanks to some clever level designs and a gameplay mechanic that never gets old.

Kick & Fennick is a pleasant surprise in a crowded platforming field. The obstacles present--portals, bounce pads, zip ramps--have all been seen before, but their implementation is anything but stale. It's a spartan world with only the barest hint of a story, and the futuristic environment looks the same from the opening send off to the final showdown, and yet that simplicity doesn't detract from the inherent appeal of solving well-crafted puzzles. Kids and guns may be a dangerous pairing, but when the results are this fun, you can relax and enjoy the hijinks.

Kick and Fennick is a cute platformer with cool ideas, but repetitive levels and sparse mechanics hold it back.

Kick & Fennick's the gaming equivalent of a warning sign. We'd never even heard of the Jaywalkers Interactive developed precision platformer when it was announced as part of February's free PlayStation Plus roster, and its smartphone-esque art style didn't exactly instil us with confidence regarding the quality of the release. Fortunately, looks can be deceiving, and there are some nifty ideas lingering beyond this package's vapid character models.

Out today on PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U comes a puzzle-platform game that, in short, is worth a play. Originally released on PS Vita a little over a year ago, Kick & Fennick follows a boy and a robot as they look to escape a laboratory using an overpowered gun... That's about all I can gi