Anybody who has owned a house rabbit will know that they love nothing more than chewing wires, tearing wallpaper and trying to copulate with inanimate objects. In fact, if they had the chance the deviant rodents would probably wear leather jackets, snarl and smoke cigarettes round the back of bike sheds.
So it's a pleasant surprise (if a slight disappointment) that the titular Bobby Carrot is cute, well-behaved, and interested in nothing more sinister than plain old carrots and Easter eggs. His latest adventure presents you with a top-down view of various cartoon levels, in which you must pick up a set number of collectables before making your way to an exit point.
While this sounds a simple enough premise, each level is filled with cunning puzzles and obstacles you must overcome to progress. While many are built from established gaming clichés, they are almost always well-designed and challenging. From the off you'll negotiate conveyer belts, switches, locks, mazes, vines and all kinds of other devices, which are always combined with cunning.
The game's difficulty ramps up fairly quickly, though the unhurried nature of
Bobby Forever means it's rarely anything but a relaxing kind of taxing. A health bar might have been a nice addition though, as it can really hurt when a simple mistake like stumbling onto a pressure sensitive floor that causes spikes to shoot up from below sends you back to the beginning of a level.
Visually
Bobby Forever matches its good design being well-presented with detailed graphics, and although the saccharine looks might be a little too much for some, it's backed up with an extensive musical score, and tidy and simple controls.
Occasionally levels have a slightly festive theme that might cut a bit close to Christmas away from December, but such complaints are merely niggles. There's also plenty of extra content to discover - hidden adventures and puzzles are tucked away in the game's furthest corners.
The only problem with the fifth outing for this plucky lagomorph is that unless you're blessed with some incredible forethought, you're going to have to face trying many levels again and again, as trial and error is often the only conceivable way to approach a number of the puzzles.
On a sadder note however, this is apparently the last outing for Bobby, so it's a shame we didn't get something slightly more off beat and unusual, but a game that lets you reek havoc in a pet lover's home is an unlikely premise so we'll just have to make do with the lovable bunny and bunch of tricky puzzles.
Still, as being hard to put down and great to pick up remains the mark of a good mobile game,
Bobby Forever ticks most of the right boxes.
