Band of the Week: Hedgehog Launch Game Rubber Band

If life has you frazzled today, and you need a more uplifting experience than blasting everything in front of you into wailing shreds of prime rib, this is the game for you:

Hedgehog Launch

I thought Hedgehog Launch would be a sadder little knockoff of the cringe-inducing Kitten Cannon. However, it's a vibrant, fun experience where you'll eventually win. Yeah, no end bosses, no horrendous resource denial curve, no running out of bounces, no cheesy traps. It's such a friendly game a two-year-old could probably play it and get something out of it.

As you start out your space program for the underdeveloped Minovia Cay, you try to turn $50.00 into big moola by launching a Minovian hedgehog with a weak rubber band, weak launcher, no radar, no emergency rocket, no parachute -- heck, not even any goggles! The interface is shown as some legacy monochrome screen from the technological graveyard of the 1970s or 80s. From this upgrade menu, you can jump right into the action.

All you do is pull back the rubber band launcher you have, and try to keep your hedgehog in the air using the left and right arrow keys at first. Once you're out of fuel, the day ends and you get paid (wish it worked that way for me). If you've saved up some money for upgrades, eventually you can use the up and down keys for an emergency rocket (very handy when you're dragging on the ground) or a parachute (when you've shot way up and want to hover around for another platform that will take you even higher).

Excitement: 4 stars. A fun, engaging game that's more about the ride than getting there.

Originality: 4 stars. Takes the mechanics of Kitten Cannon and puts a fun upgrade system in with original power-ups. Shows you don't have to re-invent the wheel.

Graphics: 4 stars. Kind of minimalist, but the backgrounds and the upgrade interface are choice, and the ending could have been lame.

Controls: 5 stars. You start out weak purposely, but once you upgrade you're fine.

Sound: 5 stars. Great soundtrack once you launch in the sky and it's all you need besides some minimal sound effects. Smarmily nice end-of-round music and tally sounds too.

Replay value: 1 star. I put a hedgehog in space; I'm done. 3 stars for the more forgetful and easily amused.

Overall ranking: 3.83 stars

My rating: 5 stars This was a short, fun, intense game with nothing bad about it.