Bytten

Ah, another game that doesn't involve killing things! I like games like this, not because I'm trying to be some sort of moral champion, but simply because they make a change from games along the lines of "pick up all the guns and kill everything". Killing games can be fun, but they can also be very samey. Different is good.

Super Groovy is a fun, simple and highly addictive game involving a red flipper and a smiley face. I call him Smiley. The flipper follows Smiley's route about the board, removing the tiles underneath it as it goes. Click on squares around Smiley to lay out a path, collecting all the flowers on the way. Pick up swirly bonuses and stars for big bonus points!

It sounds ridiculously easy. The flipper slows down as it gets nearer to Smiley, giving you time if you aren't the speediest player to keep that path growing. Unless you play Arcade mode, there aren't any enemies. Yet somehow I've yet to reach level 30 - the game is simple to play and understand, but it is very easy to make a mistake and box yourself in!

For an extra challenge, Arcade mode introduces the Meanies - three enemies that either chase Smiley round the board or just randomly meander. Avoid them, or pick up the star and you can fight back a la Pacman! Hmm, so maybe there's a little bit of violence in this game...

Graphics consist of an isometric grid of tiles and a small collection of items that, with the exception of the smoothly animated flipper, 'jump' from tile to tile rather than move in any real sense. However, not everything is static - the bonus swirls and the randomly moving star both add some motion to the display. Super Groovy scores a little low in this department because the display is so simplistic, though I find this adds to the charm rather than detracts from it.

Ah, sweet music, and so appropriate. The instruments and the style for the background tunes make ME remember the sixties, and I was born in 1978! The major limiting factor in Super Groovy's sound department is the limited number of sound effects, though I do rather like having an audience applaud me after every level.

It is difficult to find fault with Super Groovy. The controls are simple, the difficulty relaxed, and if you find the early levels too easy you can start from every tenth level you've reached before. Even when I had difficulties registering the game I had friendly and efficient support via e-mail. The only problem some people may have is that the game doesn't change much as levels go up.

Although simple in concept and minimalist in design, Super Groovy is a shining example to companies everywhere.

Keywords: super groovy review, insane play reviews, insane play games, super groovy scores, pc game reviews, indie game reviews, independent gaming.