Pili Pili Rush

It might be a few weeks since you last considered embarking on an egg hunt, but Pili Pili Rush brings yoke-searching back to the fore in a splendidly entertaining way.

You play as a little bird-like creature, and your goal is to gather up a bunch of eggs and return them to your stationary big-bird friend.

This is no prolonged fetch-quest trudge, though. Each level takes place on a single cartoony screen, scattered with just a handful of floating platforms, a respawning enemy or two, and one or two gimmicks that change the pace and flow of the levels.

Eggle oggle

As such, Pili Pili Rush is more reminiscent of classic arcade platformers like Bubble Bobble or even Donkey Kong than the extended scrolling adventures of the '90s.

Each stage is a finely poised obstacle course, but the random spawning of the eggs and your ability to carry up to three at a time mean that you have a surprising amount of leeway in how you approach it.

Do you carefully max out your capacity and risk losing them all if you take a hit from a roaming bug? Or do you play it cautious and ferry them back one at a time? Do you allow yourself to get distracted collecting treasure, or go for the best time possible?

Commendably, attaining a full three-star grade at the end of the level is quite a loose process, taking into consideration a combination of time, egg-collecting efficiency, and treasure collected. If you excel at one, it could quite easily cover for a deficiency in another.

Cracks appearing

Because of Pili Pili Rush's simple gameplay, its controls can be similarly streamlined - just a simple left and right rocker and a single button for jumping (and double-jumping).

Unfortunately, these virtual controls never feel as accurate as they should. In a game that requires split-second decision making and super-quick changes in direction, and which rewards pixel-grazing precision, the controls just aren't quite there.

This is rectified somewhat by that forgiving scoring system, as well as by the general variation found within the levels. The various doors, switches, and traps don't just act as obstacles to overcome, but inform the way you tackle the levels on a moment-by-moment basis.

It's also a nice-looking game, with a bright yet unfussy cartoon style that's simultaneously easy on the eye and functional.

Pili Pili Rush's main success is in taking an extremely simple retro-platformer premise and adding sufficient variety, nuance, and personality to prod you further through its eight worlds. It's not quite as slick in the hands as a game of this type should be, but it's still a worthwhile eggy treat.