Stick Man Rescue

Stick Man Rescue – Review

Published By: Tik Games, Developed By: Tik Games, Genre: Action, Release Date: Out Now, Rating: M, Systems: Playstation Portable, Playstation 3 (Minis).

Presentation: Stick Man Rescue is an 2D action puzzle game where you have to rescue little stick people with your aircraft. A long time ago i used to play a called Choplifter. Stick Man Rescue definately has its own unique presentation featuring a good artstyle, gameplay and sound design. The game is only missing replayability. What initially grabbed me was the title screen’s menu music, it was catchy and stuck in my head awhile. the setting and atmosphere of Stick Man Rescue is that of addicting gameplay in a nicely designed 2D action game.

The controls via the Dual Shock 3: LS-move, X-fire guns, R1-turn right, L1-turn left, D-pad-move. The controls were solid. Naviagting some of the more challenging maps with lightning clouds, spikes  and Evil Blue Stick men pushing bombs down on my aircraft was navigable due to the precise and responsive controls. The controls for Stick Man Rescue were seamless enough in my opinion that it made the gameplay addicting right off the bat. The menus are easily navigable for the most part. There weren’t any glitches or cheap gameplay experiences with Stick Man Rescue. Its a solid little Playstation Minis title technically speaking.

Story: There isn’t a real story involved in Stick Man Rescue. Your a pilot who must solve puzzles while avoiding hazards. Enemies are called Blue Stick Minions. Your only real goal as a pilot is to rescue as many stranded stick men on each level.

Visuals – Stick Man Rescue is more about artstyle than textures or technical aspects. Don’t get me wrong the game does look good when you add it all up. What i was most impressed with was the usage colors used for certain gameplay aspects (like blood) stood out against the palmtrees, clouds and building structures you see in the 2D background. The Stick Man are bright green while the bad guys are blue. Blood splatters the screen in bright red when you shoot or splat stick people. Enemy vehicles and buildings have a darkened shadow appearance that melded well with the color of moving objects on screen. On occasion clouds do shoot yellow lightning bolts which can knock off chunks of your aircraft’s health-bar. Overall Stick Man Rescue has a pleasant looking visual style.

Sound: The music was good. The title screen music was engaging and got me ready to play each time. The orchestra tunes changed throughout a few levels. The sound design never got repetitive or annoying whatsoever. Exploding bombs and gunfire from the aircraft wasn’t distorted and sounded crisp.

Gameplay: The main premise is to control your aircraft around each level and rescue as many Stick Man as possible. You basically just pick them up and transport them back to the base and repeat if necessary. The more difficult the level the more trips to take and hazerds that could kill your Stick Man. Hazards include the aircraft you pilot first and formost. I squashed a few Stick Man by accident early into my playthrough. Vehicles like bulldozers, bombs from Blue Stick Minions, lightning strikes are some of the other hazards.

As far as level dangers go they are present in spikes and missile attacks. Timing and speed is key when you reach the higher levels in Stick Man Rescue. The HUD in the upper left part of the screen shows how many Stickman you collected and missiles available. There are power-ups on some levels you can use. Shooting Blue Stick Minions with the aircraft’s guns helped me out. Dropping the aircraft down on clouds destroys them. Each mission is scored on Level Rescues, Total Rescues, Level Deaths, Total Deaths, Kills Friend, Kills Enemy. This game does get addicting quick by its simplistic yet challenging gameplay. Its fun also (the most important ingredient).

Replayability: This is what drops the score down some. There are 30 different levels you can play. However once you beat those levels there is practically nothing else to do. You can perform a level select via a menu after you complete a level. Personally i just didn’t feel like replaying a level i already beaten.

Final Verdict: Stick Man Rescue harpens back to the good old days of 2D action games. Its simplistic yet addicting gameplay is coupled with a compelling artstyle and good music. However there is no replay value whatsoever.

7.5/10