Baboon: it's not just monkeying around

The games section here at Felix periodically get free games in to review. In the past, these have included such greats as Euro Bus Simulator 2 (see my past review). While these simulator games are fun to review I was very pleased when the opportunity arose to play upcoming PSVita game Baboon, as puzzle games are something I know more about. The game did not disappoint and I hope that this review will reveal why.

Baboon is a game from Spanish indie developers Relevo. You play as a monkey who must collect the bananas that the evil Pirate monkey has made float up into the sky. To do this you must light and set off bombs under yourself which propel you into the sky. You can fine tune your flight by selecting the strength of the bomb and also the position.

The strength is selected using a meter which goes up and down, and you must time your launch carefully to attain the required speed. Likewise you must place the bomb carefully so that you fly through the air on the proper trajectory. It is this simple main game mechanic that could be learnt in seconds and take hours to master that makes the game so addictive.

I like to think of it as a mixture between golf, Angry Birds and Tiddlywinks. Flying yourself through the air sounds easy but, you must avoid enemies, collect bananas and do so in a time limit or with various other challenges if you are going for 100%. As you progress you get more items and are able to complete more complex levels which helps to keep the game fresh and interesting.

In addition to these fun puzzle levels, of which some are very challenging and rewarding to complete, is a fun background story where you can speak to the other monkeys, and trade items in order to unlock more items for yourself. Sometimes after completing a particularly hard level it is relaxing to partake in these side quests.

Overall Baboon is a very solid game. It is fun, has a lovely Japanese art style and a great soundtrack. The levels are simple, varied enough and offer enough challenge to keep even seasoned platformers coming back to it. If the levels prove too hard at first you can spend time chatting with the other monkeys and spend your hard earned bananas on power up items to help you. The short nature of the levels makes this the perfect game to play on a commute to work and I would recommend that everyone starts playing this and not Candy Crush or Angry Birds!