Game Reviews

Forget-Me-Not

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iOS
| Forget-Me-Not
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Forget-Me-Not
|
iOS
| Forget-Me-Not

In films and other forms of entertainment, a high concept is a term applied to something that can be summed up in a quick and easy phrase - "it’s Doom with zombies," "it's Terminator meets Aliens," "it's shampoo meets conditioner."

For those of an easily distracted nature, you could sum up the creative Forget-Me-Not as Pac-Man with guns because - yes - it’s Pac-Man with guns.

Unlike a lot of other mash-ups, this is a game that hides a lot of depth and originality beneath its apparently shallow exterior.

Puck-Man

The setup doesn’t sound too creative at first: you race around a little maze collecting flowers by swiping in a direction anywhere on screen. Eat all the flowers, pick up the key, and reach the exit to move on to the next level, where you do it all again.

Attempting to stop your peaceful flower-gathering are several nasties that roam around looking for trouble and eating the blasted flowers when you’re not looking. If they hit you too much, it’s Game Over.

It even looks and sounds a lot like those classic arcade games of the early '80s, with beeps and blips cheerfully piercing the air in a fashion that should have anyone born in the '70s weak at the knees.

Attic attack

And that’s where the similarities to Namco’s classic end, because Forget-Me-Not is definitely its own game.

For one, your character automatically fires with every step (and so do some of the enemies). While that sounds a bit of a cheat, if you approach a looping side to the map without a key on your back to block the shots there’s a strong chance you end up shooting yourself to death.

The maps themselves are random, with two of the game modes (Standard and Survival) spawning monsters along a difficulty curve, whilst Shuffle just throws whatever it feels like at you.

These maps don’t always remain the same once you start them. Some of the creatures you face are, in fact, walking time bombs that you can fire back into other creatures (or yourself). When they explode, they alter the shape of the map, which can result in some scenes of utterly exhilarating devastation come some of the later levels.

Too much pressure

There’s also the option of scraping the sides of the maze (á la Pac-Man Championship Edition) to both gain speed and power up your character so it can chomp straight through enemies.

Brilliantly, should you power up too much, he explodes, making what could have been a no-brainer tactic into something that requires a deft touch to properly use.

The scoring system is also cleverly structured, emphasising unbroken chains of flowers rather than focusing on how long you can stay alive, forcing you to pick your route carefully through the maze.

This combined with the original bite-sized gameplay, pitch-perfect retro presentation, and Game Center leaderboard integration make Forget-Me-Not a game that’ll linger in memory for a long time.

Forget-Me-Not

Fantastic retro presentation meets intriguing modern design, Forget-Me-Not is a breath of fresh air
Score
Will Wilson
Will Wilson
Will's obsession with gaming started off with sketching Laser Squad levels on pads of paper, but recently grew into violently shouting "Tango Down!" at random strangers on the street. He now directs that positive energy into his writing (due in no small part to a binding court order).