Sigi: A Fart for Melusina

To say that Sometimes You has had a crummy track record is a bit of an understatement. This is the company that brought you such duds as Save the Ninja Clan, Deep Ones, Grab the Bottle and North, which is in the running for being the worst game I've played this year. As a publisher, they seem willing to extend an arm to young developers looking to get their games on home consoles, but so far the result has been decidedly mixed. When I booted up their newest game, Sigi: A Fart for Melusina, I was initially impressed. It had a cool throwback look, fun platforming action and solid control. Could this be the first game by Sometimes You that I can recommend? Unfortunately, the answer to that question is a resounding no.

This is the story of Sigi, a flatulent knight who is won over by the sweet sounds of a mermaid singing. But this fairy tale wasn't meant to be, because poor old Sigi let out a fart and sent the topless woman scurrying back into the water. He chases after her, only to discover that he'll need to fight through animals, insects and monsters in order to save her from the evil lurking in the darkness. It's just enough of a story to send our hero through twenty way-too-easy stages full of platforming goodness.

Like I said at the top, all this initially worked on me. The game is set up as something of a Ghouls 'N Ghosts rip-off, which is a series I have something of a soft spot for. Couple that with the clean 8-bit graphics and solid gameplay and I was ready to give this a big thumbs up. But then I played more than two stages and the whole thing fell apart. Let me explain.

Sigi is split up into twenty different levels, though you wouldn't know it based on looking. There are really only a couple backgrounds in this game, so the different layouts all start to blur together after a while. At first I thought it was just a temporary thing and we would eventually see more variety in the backgrounds, but no. This is all you get. And while both of these backgrounds look fine, they illustrate the bigger problem that everything feels rushed and shallow.

You see these issues pop up in a number of different ways, especially when it comes to the game's difficulty. While most throwback titles err on the side of being punishingly difficult, Sigi goes the complete opposite direction. This game is a pushover from beginning to end. There were a couple stages with moving platforms that proved to be tricky, but most of the levels can be completed without even coming close to losing a life. I was surprised by how short all of these levels were, and you can easily beat the game in well under an hour.

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The other problem is the subtitle. Look, I don't care if you want to call your game "A Fart for Melusina," that's not what matters. But if you are going to stick with that subtitle, then you should at least make your flatulence a part of the action. But that's not what happens here. This isn't like Boogerman where all the snot-flinging actually plays into the mechanics, but rather is just the thing that sets the story in motion. The subtitle is a little misleading and I can imagine some gamers being a little bummed out that there isn't a dedicated fart button.

Visually, Sigi looks fine. I like the character design and the 8-bit graphics are nice and clean. What I don't like is all the shaky-cam nonsense. You get the feeling that everything is exploding all the time, which I found more annoying than exciting. I also think the bosses are a letdown compared to the rest of the designs. There are a couple good ones, but most feel completely generic and not connected to the story the developer is trying to tell. Not that you come to Sigi for a deep and involving story, but a little more care would have gone a long way.

Even at the rock-bottom budget price, Sigi: A Fart for Melusina is a disappointing platformer. It's not only short and way too easy, but lacks any kind of variety or intrigue. The bosses are lame, there aren't enough backgrounds and everything is constantly shaking. Worst of all, our hero rarely farts, leading me to believe there's some false advertising in the title. If you're looking for gross-out fun, then you should probably stick with Boogerman.