Fancy Pants Man!

Well, my next review is about the Fancy Pants games that released for the XBOX Live Arcade and the PSN (Playstation Network). Now I don't have any of those consoles, but Brad Borne graciously put them as an add-on for Google Chrome. What I want to say first is that this game is DEFINITELY worth buying, but as World 2 is rather short, I would recommend that you wait for World 3 to release, which will have a longer and more deep storyline. Nevertheless, if you have Google Chrome, this add-on is a must-get and it provides for fun for at least 1 hour, while completing the game would take a while longer. I will be releasing a guide later on since I finished the game twice and have done pretty well both times. As you can see in the picture, I never died once and collected over 1300 points (this pic was taken before I reached that).

Ah...My beloved ice cream...

The game has a basic storyline. At the beginning, the mayor of Squiggleville (your town) presents to you a chocolate ice cream cone. However, a purple (and exceptionally fat) rabbit pops in out of nowhere and steals your ice cream. The rest of the story is just chasing him down and defeating him.Along the way, you'll run into various enemies like spiders and....spiders. While the enemies department could use some enhancement, the spiders do an ample job of attacking you, provided that you have no weapon and three spider attacks kill you.
In order to slightly increase the difficulty, it seems that Brad Borne had decided that, when attacked, Fancy Pants Man immediately goes into a state of "helplessness" i.e. he cannot grab onto anything. This could be the cause of your death many times. Although this can get annoying, it simply teaches us to be more careful.
The highlight of the game is not the deceptively simple story. Within the story, there are 12 more minigames, that will involve you and challenge you in ways the story could never have. Luck is tested, acrobatics is utilized....and your awareness is very much needed.
These twelve groups are further divided into two groups: the actual minigames, and golf. There are six minigames, one for each level. Likewise, there are six golfing courses, one for each level.
The minigames provide an ample supply of shell-like coins which restore your health. Yet, they are intriguing and simply call out to you. The obstacles you will have to face to reach them are often intelligent, and you don't just walk into them. Also, between levels, there are minilevels that have you run around without being realistic, but they are often drab. The introduction of grease increases the pace of the game greatly, and it is used often enough. These minilevels can have challenging factors that force you to use that noggin of yours.

The snail...

..and its shell

Yes!! I've finally got it-wait. Its pink? I wasted my time for a PINK pant???

The other part is golf. Golf is perhaps the most challenging part of the game.Other than spiders, there are also snails that take out half of your health. However, these snails, when jumped upon, retract into their shells and never come out. The shell is a very high impact object, meaning that if you touch it lightly, it will go flying. There are two things you can do with the snail shells. One is to keep bouncing it on your head until it touches the ground. The game conveniently counts them (my highest is 15. See if you can beat it). Although you get no prize, it is pretty fun.
The other thing is golf.
Ths shell is the golf ball and you have to kick it into a certain golf hole somewhere in the game. Some of them are easy (fifth level and the fourth level) but the rest are terrifyingly hard (especially the second and third levels). Most of your time will be spent attempting to get the accursed shell in that hole. Once you get it in, you'll receive a new pant color. Annoyingly, the third one, which is the hardest, has the black pant color, which, in my opinion, is the best color.
I will make a minigame and golf guide, but I really want to share with you my favorite minigame: AfroNinja. Hats off  to AfroNinja (yes he named it after himself) for making a difficult, yet interesting level filled almost entirely with thorns. Look at the pics and marvel.

Yes, I fell to my death two times.
And yes, those are all thorns.

You cheap arachnid!!

Although I may be praising Fancy Pants so much, it doesn't mean that it doesn't have any glitches. Often, Fancy Pants Man would continually run to the left for absolutely no reason at all. Or it could slow down significantly. I found a glitch in AfroNinja itself: How come a spider can walk on thorns while it immediately kills me??? And what is it walking on anyway? Air? Plus the fallign platforms somehow stopped above the ground for me. However, I had to kill myself to get back up.



THE VERDICT:
Gameplay: 10- The controls are very easy to learn and very responsive.

Sound: 5- A very dissapointing factor. I played mainly in the mute mode after hearing the cheap boings while Fancy Pants Man jumped.

Graphics: 9.5- Clean and clear cut. Could be slightly more detailed.

Lasting Appeal: 8- The main story, except for the final boss battle, lacks difficulty. However, the golf and replayable minigames add to the score.

Overall: 9 (not an average)- Play it on mute and its amazing.
Remember: Fancy Pants World 3 is releasing mid-year 2012! Look out!