Alfred Chicken (Game Boy) Review

Alfred Chicken, like many video games, and especially old-school platformers, mixed together things that didn't seem to go together. Similar to how Super Mario Bros. had a chubby plumber killing turtles and mushrooms, while destroying the brick boxes that filled a kingdom where the hills had eyes (literally), this throws its chicken protagonist in a tiny-looking land that's filled with anything from cheese and windup mice, to soda bottles and smiling flowers, to… well, you get the idea.

The visual style is mentioned before everything else to get across a point about this title. While it's not ugly or anything, nothing really blends together as it should, and, most of all, it all feels… generic. And that's the thing about Alfred Chicken. Nothing stands out, and, unfortunately, not just the graphics, as this turns out to be nothing but a platformer in terms of gameplay - jump around, kill enemies, collect items, reach the end, and on, and on.

Sure, the goal in almost every platformer ever is exactly that: reach the end! However, this doesn't do anything to spice things up. There are no unique mechanics that stand out, which is a shame, because, in strictly technical terms, it's a decently made title, with responsive controls and all… but it just isn't fun, as the only thing between our poultry protagonist and the exit door (or… balloon), is nothing more than a few easy to handle critters, simple traps, and simplistic "puzzle" challenges.

At first, not only it will all feel simplistic, but also insanely easy. That is because both enemies and traps are pretty scarce, as well as a piece of cake to avoid. The thing is, though, that Alfred can actually die in one hit, something that starts to become a major annoyance after level 4 or 5, making the latter half of the game insanely challenging - artificially challenging that is. A high difficulty, however, is not a problem if the fan factor is also high - and that's the real problem with Alfred Chicken. It's boring, it's insignificant… it's just… a platformer.