by Emele Maisey

Created on: November 12, 2008   Last Updated: November 25, 2011

Alex Gordon is a treasure hunting cat on a mission. Dressed as a cowboy but looking more like a fox than a ginger cat this platform game reminds me of the PlayStationgame Crash Bandicoot or Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers.

The story goes that Alex and his sister Alice are on a desert island exploring when they discover a strange amulet in a cave. When they touch it they are suddenly frozen and the amulet breaks up with the gems inside mysteriously vanishing. Native turtles wake up and capture Alice... Alex is told by a Monkey King called Pooh that he must collect the missing amulet pieces and in return his sister will be realised.

Run, jump, climb and even swim (who said cats don't like water?!) your way through 50 levels covering 5 worlds with bonus stages along the way. Using the arrow keys and space-bar collect coins, stars for bonus levels, missing pieces of the amulet and hearts for extra lives.

Along the way you will come across animal baddies including turtles and panda bears. Jump over them to get passed or jump on there head to kill them and get extra coins. Don't run straight into them as doing this to many times will cause you to loose a life!

New items are added in each level such as boxes containing more coins which you must smash open, trampolines to jump on, moving platforms and barrels to help you get around each platform level, these new items stop the game from becoming stale.

As well as the mission to rescue his sister by collecting the five missing pieces of the gems Alex can use the gold coins to purchase goods for his dream retirement home between each level.

A cheerleader bear called Lucky who is a great fan of Alex's will mark the spot where you can go back to if you loose a life rather than having to restart the level from the beginning.

A penguin called Trams is dotted around each level to help you along the way with tips and tricks such as telling you how to jump higher or climb a rope. He is rather annoying though, as you try to read the dialog box he is speaking gibberish in your ear.

Arrows point you in the right direction to travel towards the exit but do explore off the beaten track a little as there are "hidden areas" which might have extra coins or a gem inside.

There is no time limit in which you have to complete the level so you can really explore each scene, finding the hidden area and getting all the stars and coins before you progress to the next level.

I give this game a rating of 4/5. It's very entertaining and enjoyably addictive, if you like the platform games of old you'll like this! Plus with the fun, cute animal characters the kids will love Alex Gordon... As will the grownups!

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