In this retro-styled 2-D platformer, downloadable on Wii U, you start out at the end of the game, defeating the last boss in his castle. Then you must escape from his crumbling fortress, racing against lava in vertically scrolling levels and crumbling rocks in horizontal ones. But you have one handy trick up your sleeve. You can teleport short distances in a puff of smoke, like a thief or a ninja!

In the game, you can run and jump, but that’s it. You automatically kill enemies by running into them. To teleport, just hold down the correct button and press the control pad in any 8 directions. Hold the button down longer and you can teleport a little further. If you see a yellow wall, floor, or pillar, you can even teleport to the other side of it. And that’s all there is to it.

In each stage are three hidden statues. Find them and you can unlock entries in a journal that explains the story of your sudden memory loss and escape from the castle, but the story in this game isn’t that important or interesting. If you get hit by lava or an enemy, you’ll start at the last checkpoint, which is represented by a flagpole. The game gets difficult pretty quickly, but luckily you get unlimited lives.

You can play the game in single player or multiplayer modes. The multiplayer mode is just like the single player story, but up to four people can play at the same time. You’d think it would be like a competitive race, but it’s really more co-operative than you think. As long as one of the players makes it to the door at the end of the level, you win.

Problems with the game are fairly minimal. Sometimes the jumping and teleporting controls feel a tiny bit floaty. And the game gets pretty tough, but that’s it. Otherwise it’s a neat little simple 2-D platforming challenge. Not bad, but not great either.

Kid Factor:

Roving Rogue is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence. If you or the bad guys get hit by lava, rocks, or enemies, you just fall off the screen while some dramatic music plays. And that’s about it, really. No worse than a Mario game. Reading skill is helpful for some of the text, but not necessary as there are also picture cues and the game is pretty easy to figure out. Younger players may get frustrated at the high difficulty, but multiple gamers can play together to help each other out.

Tags: Game Reviews