Alright, we are done with the classic Sonic titles. However, before we head into Sonic's true shift to 3-D with Sonic Adventure, I think now is a good time to review some more titles that aren't part of the main Sonic series. Let's start off with Flicky, released for the Sega Genesis in 1991, but was actually an arcade game made in 1984. Because of that, this review will be different from everything else I have planned.

The strangely named Flicky (most notably from the Sonic series) is a small blue bird who gets his kicks by travelling into cat-infested territory, rescuing defenseless chicks from a fate rather like lining a pussy's stomach. In order to save the day, Flicky travels around a horizontally scrolling platform environment, collecting chicks that follow his actions. Whole chains of chicks can be collected, all of them copying Flicky's movement until the whole train becomes a bizarre kind of snake. With the chicks safely in tow, Flicky then returns to the portal, helpfully marked “Flicky”, which opens and admits any chicks Flicky has collected. Only when all the chicks are safely stowed away is the level complete.

The cats themselves kill Flicky on contact, but there are plenty of objects the bird-like one collects which are then lobbed to knock them out. Should the cats make contact with any of the chicks following Flicky, the chicks are left behind, and only contact with Flicky again makes them follow him.

There are countless screens of platform-related excitement, along with many bonus levels to test Flicky's skills to their limits!

Okay, you don't need to tell me. Flicky looks and sounds like the worst Genesis game in existence. Its retarded graphics and moronic sound make it appear like a shambling mockery of a sad travesty... But try playing it! One game was all it took for me to become horribly, horribly hooked. Into the games room I repeatedly went, zombie-like until I'd had another fix. Even now I want another go. Its gameplay is just so perfect; a constant test of reflexes as you teeter on a knife-edge between playing it safe and ending up with a rubbish score, or running the big risks and going for the mega-score! It's crazy, I know, that a game this short, so laughably simple and pathetic-sounding as this can prove to be more addictive, more challenging and more long-lasting than virtually any other Genesis game, but it's true. Try it out and see what I mean!

Every time I start playing Flicky I have difficulty putting it down. What's even weirder is that this is a retro game disguised as a REALLY retro game. It's great. It would have made Namco proud if they came up with this.

Rating: 4 / 5