by Sarah Cook

Created on: May 17, 2008   Last Updated: May 25, 2008

Skin and Bones is a colourful game that looks like it should be a lot of fun. Until you start playing it. The music is irritating (but can be turned off) and the controls are clunky (but can be changed.) However, the basic problem of this game would seem to be that it has taken retro gaming that step too far. Whilst the idea of choosing between the joystick and the keyboard was exciting when I was 10, it's not now I'm 30. The whole feel of the game was a very early platform Nintendo type experience.

The game play itself has good ideas embedded in it. The two characters have different skills and abilities, and this makes for challenging, verging on frustrating play. Skin is easily killed but Bones can't pick up gems, although he can kill things. However, Skin only having one life, and having to start the game at the beginning each time you die tipped the balance from frustrating to annoying for me. It is a platform based game, with boosters which will take you up to the next tier of platforms, however the degree of control needed for accuracy is not provided by simple keyboard play. The swap between characters can become irritating, as they do not follow each other around the platform, and it can be time consuming to go back and find the other character, bring it to where you need him to be, and then progress. For a game that advertises itself as fast and fun, this aspect certainly detracts from that.

The graphics are bright and cheerful, if basic. How complex can crabs and cubes be after all? However this adds to the retro appeal of this game, and the simplicity of them enables concentration on game-play. However, the text style and the overall presentation progress from retro to irritating in quick time.

On the whole, this product is one amongst many of it's kind, and not the best I've ever seen or played. First impressions are of a Sonic/Mario type game, but with less subtlety. Unfortunately, this doesn't change as the game progresses. What should have been very interesting and challenging became frustrating and irritating with 15 minutes. This game would be ideally suited to handheld gaming, but on the PC, it has very little to offer the experienced gamer. 1/5

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