Tom and Jerry - Mouse Maze

It’s been sadly too many years since terrestrial TV has played any of the classic cartoons that brightened up both a child’s and adult’s day. Fortunately the games industry as well as the satellite and cable channels has given the animation we know and love a life-line – such as Tom and Jerry’s: Mouse Maze.

I don’t know about you, but I was always on Tom’s (the cat) side rather than the annoying goody-two-shoes mouse, Jerry’s (don’t even get me started on Tweetypie either – Sylvester never should have lost out to that damn bird). So I was both overjoyed and saddened to learn that I was in control of Jerry in this puzzle game. Saddened as I would have to try and evade the comedic antics that the cat would offer and happy as I could let it go to the dogs and watch Jerry get all that he’s been owed all this time – a big fight ‘cat and mouse’ style.

The nearest way I can describe this game is something along the lines of a bit of a twist on Pac-Man. As mentioned, you play Jerry (the mouse) who must roam around the labyrinth of corridors around the house collecting cheese and other power-ups whilst avoiding the relentless chasing of Tom and his pals.

Every level you must gather a set amount of cheese blocks before making a quick bee-line for the exit (which only becomes unlocked when the achievement’s been reached). You can of course keep running around the level to ensure you pick up every crumb of cheese and all the other power-ups which will boost your score as well as elude Tom’s clawed grasp.

Power-ups available include a limited invincibility (in the form of the Musketeer’s hat), speed up (a red hot chilli pepper), cake (just gives you a big score), Spike attack (a picture of Spike the dog’s face), checkpoint (mouse doors) and cheese blocks (which serve as checkpoints as well as crucial collectable objectives). Things to avoid are mouse-traps, Tom and his friends (all cats) and swinging doors.

Whenever you are caught out by Tom, a mouse trap or a swinging door, you’ll lose a life and start back wherever you were last when the game was saved (checkpoint or at very beginning of the level). The only thing that will spare you from the wrath of the feline is to keep a sharp eye out for the mouse indicator that appears on screen to hint how close he is as well as where he is. The difficult thing is you marginally travel faster than the cat but you don’t know the layout terribly well so can easily get cornered – at which point you just need to get ready to start the game again.

In summary then, this is a totally enjoyable game which is light-hearted and amusing but also a little challenging for children and adults alike. Certainly you can do much worse than playing this game and I would believe that if you did get this, you’d be entertained for a good few hours and when you do complete it, you will come back and play it again just for fun or indeed trying to better your last score!

Rating 86%

Positives

It’s Tom and Jerry!!!!

Nice graphics and fun

Tests your reflexes and your memory getting used to the layouts of each level

Addictive for guys and girls of all ages

Negatives

A little repetitive and not much variation

No mini-games to keep it refreshing

Controls are a little sluggish

You can’t escape if you are cornered