Sketcher

Free-running fun is what awaits you if you decide to download Sketcher.

If you’re a fan of doodling you already know the fun a stick figure can offer you but what happens if the doodle came to life? Sketcher shows you just one possibility – a sprinter on a mission to hurdle and jump objects whilst collecting musical beats as fast as he can. This character needs your help though, for him to jump or run freely, he needs you to fill in the missing lines and ramps in time. If you succeed to do so in time you’ll be rewarded by him gaining in speed (which makes the game a little more challenging, but also gives you a bigger score once you’ve completed the level). If you fail to do so, you may as well get the rubber out and start again as it only takes a couple of hits before your doodle is down and out!

In this sideways scrolling game you are challenged not just by just the racing or sports game bit but the refreshing elements which incorporate puzzles which tests your timing and reactions quite a bit.

The runner travels along a predefined course (with its obstacles) and by pressing 1 you do an uphill line, 2 draws a bridge, 3 draws a downhill line, 4 provides a small ramp, 5 draws a bigger jump and 6 provides the biggest jump. The obstacles you will encounter are missing bits of path, spikes, big chainsaw type bushes, water fountains and walls.

To relieve you from some of the rather repetitive elements of this game, you have mini-games to accomplish and unlock for future gaming enjoyment. These are such as hurdling turtles (by placing the correct ramp to jump them in time), jumping obstacles on a quick relay race, jumping and collecting keys (without missing one) and collecting keys whilst avoiding porcupines on a conveyer belt, to name but a few. As you can guess, there’s plenty of jumping and running at speed and nearly every possible doodle conceived is used in this rather adorable game.

If you didn’t have enough going on in the screen to keep your eyes peeled at, you have also a small character which moves along the bottom of the screen which represents how far along the level you are (and indeed, how close you are to the end). This bar does present you with some additional difficulty as on some parts of the course it prevents you from seeing what lays ahead and indeed impacts on your time to draw in the right line or jump to avoid injury.

If you have a big enough screen and keypad you’ll be able to react in time and accomplish this game with relative ease. The courses don’t change or randomise so should you fail the level first or second time round, you’ll be able to complete it with almost a certainty should you memorise the sequence of key presses in order to get through.

It’s a nice touch that should you select the wrong object for the obstacle, you can erase it and replace it if you have enough time to do so. Also you have the super-speed mode which you get to use whenever you like. I was a little reluctant to use it as I thought I’d never be able to fill in the missing pieces in sufficient time. However, I was relieved to discover that this is all done automatically when in this mode. Alas, this mode only lasts for a few seconds so should be used wisely!

In the end then, this is a great little game which I was surprised by and pleased by and even found myself playing out of fun and curiosity rather than simply wearing my ‘reviewers’ cap. Definitely this is a game for anyone who likes frantic key-pressing and also the unique Fido-Dido-esque artwork to enjoy.

Rating 92%

Positives

Very enjoyable and totally unique

Challenging yet not impossible

Cute mini-games which you can access at any time once you’ve unlocked it

Good humour used throughout

Negatives

A little repetitive

The music’s not great

Too easy to die