Run Run and Die (Wii U) Review

When it comes to games in the "runner" genre, it's absolutely imperative that the controls and mechanics are spot on. Unfortunately, this is where Run Run and Die immediately falls apart. While the 3D environments are quaint, and the plucky penguin is charming, the gameplay is an exercise in trial and error. Each of the 24 stages has a multitude of dangerous objects that must be jumped over. However, evading these traps is ridiculously hard. This is attributed to the poor controls and confusing perspective changes.

Runners operate with the notion that any contact with a deadly object is immediately fatal. Control issues are all the more noticeable when the punishment is so severe. There is a slight amount of input lag, so there will be times where the button press doesn't register. What happens next is that the penguin awkwardly shuffles off of a ledge to an early demise. The penguin will also continually jump, as long as the button is held down. This can lead to annoying moments where he'll jump to a higher platform, then immediately jump again. These input issues are a frequent cause of death.

During most of the stages, the camera will shift to different locations. This is to give a different view of the action, but it also makes traps more difficult to see. This design decision might have been intentional, which makes it all the more bewildering. There's one stage where the penguin is attacked by moving robots. Thanks to the camera, there are points where the player is forced to make completely blind jumps, or else their penguin friend is mangled by drills. Some stages use an isometric overhead view, which makes judging when to jump considerably difficult.

The only way to combat these hopeless situations is to die repeatedly. The masochist penguin is practically required to be impaled, cleaved, smashed, dissolved, and obliterated. This lasts at least as long as it takes for players to learn exactly when and where to jump. Good reflexes and a solid sense of judgment won't help. There are simply too many pixel perfect jumps, and this game simply isn't designed for it. Perhaps if the penguin wasn't such a large target, or the traps didn't require overly-precise jumps, then there would be less tedium and less frustration. Maybe there'd be a little fun to be had instead.