Kick & Fennick: Ps4 Review

The platform genre is, largely due to the fact that it has been around for so long, pretty much saturated. But there are an increased number of platform games coming out these days because, thanks to services like PSN giving support to indie developers, there are tons of new studios churning out platform games.

Kick & Fennick is such a game, but it manages to move away from the run-of-the-mill platform fare, presenting the player with a degree of freshness within the genre. It’s elements might not be completely original we have seen bounce pads and portals before, after all but the way the game plays out is pretty unique within the platform sphere.

This PS Vita exclusive sees the player take on the role of Kick, a kid who befriends a damaged Robot, Fennick. Together they undertake a grand adventure through a futuristic world. Kick is armed with a rifle, but this weapon isn’t for fighting enemies; it is used to boost Kick into the air.

The result is a fascinating game that relies of the player’s sense of geometry and spacing more than blasting enemies, and as such it becomes a very fresh addition to the platforming genre. But first time developers Jaywalkers Interactive could have been a little kinder to the player. Kick and Fennick can be extremely unforgiving, and multiple retries of challenging levels get to be frustrating. More generous life replenishment and a kinder checkpointing system would have benefitted this game greatly.

As it stands, Kick & Fennick is still a lot of fun, even if the player is going to spend a lot of time swearing at the Vita’s screen. But with that frustration comes a great sense of accomplishment when getting through tougher areas.

7/10