Mail Mole

Normally, video game heroes like to be seen. They dance, make jokes and generally strive to get as much screen time as possible. But that's not something you can say about Molty, the star of the delightful new 3D platformer -- Mail Mole. This is a hard-working hero who would rather stay underground than mug for the camera, creating an interesting dynamic where the cartoony mascot is known more for his actions than having a snarky attitude. Is this the future for all video game characters? Probably not, but it does make for a charming platformer that will appeal to gamers of all ages.

Neither through snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nothing is going to stop Molty the Mail Mole from delivering the important letters to the good animals of Carrotland. Not even a well-earned vacation on a tropical island is going to stop him from getting the job done, as we see when the poor guy is ushered back to Peaceful Plaza to help his friends with an urgent matter. It seems that somebody has hacked the power grid, which means that without lights, transportation or even telephone lines, Carrotland's Summer Festival is in danger of being canceled. Molty can't let that happen, so it's off to work delivering the reset codes in an effort to restore power to his friends and neighbors.

This sets up a fairly straight-forward but still entertaining adventure where our hard-working mole visits nearly thirty stages spread across eight different worlds. We get the usual assortment of themed locations, including snow levels, tropical islands, cactus-filled deserts, spooky swamps and, of course, a deadly castle filled with lava pits. Your goal is to burrow through the soft ground picking up carrots, collecting the hidden radishes and delivering the all-important reset codes to the far lands, all while dodging obstacles and dealing with lots and lots of platforming puzzles.

The gimmick here is that Molty the Mail Mole spends most of the time underground, not on top of it like most video game heroes. Even when he's navigating floating platforms and other familiar genre tropes, he'll still bury himself in the ground, almost as if he's swimming through water. With the exception of jumping around and breaking wooden boxes, there are very few times when we actually see Molty above ground. This means that you'll spend most of the time following a small mole hill as it moves through the colorful stages and dodges the many different obstacles.

It's worth mentioning that Mail Mole is a non-violent platformer. Molty doesn't have any melee attacks and he never picks up a weapon of any kind. In fact, the levels don't even have enemies to fight. The one exception to this comes in the form of the boss levels, though even that is more about the platforming action than aggressive combat. Our hero will basically run around a giant ring while dodging attacks and jumping on large buttons that will stop the evil turtle from sucking the power from Peaceful Plaza.

The lack of enemies may sound boring, but it allows the developers to really focus their attention on crafting fun and engaging platforming puzzles. There's a nice variety of level types, ranging from scavenger hunts to mazes to high-speed stages where you barely have time to react. They are filled with rotating spikes, bottomless pits, disappearing platforms, sand traps, wheels of death and even beach balloons that will send our hero soaring to new heights. There's nothing particularly new or original here, but all of this is implemented well and it's always fun exploring the out-of-the-way parts of the stages in an effort to track down all of the radishes. The level designs are the real standout here.

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That said, none of this is very difficult. With the colorful levels, adorable hero and non-violent gameplay, Mail Mole is definitely aimed at all-ages. As a result, seasoned veterans of the 3D platforming genre may find the stages to be a bit on the easy side. Sure, you may fall into the water or get hit by a spike ball, but you're not going to have much trouble completing these stages. You can even buy extra health at most checkpoints, though I never found a need to do that. If you're looking for a platformer that will really challenge you, then you should probably look elsewhere, because the difficulty here is geared towards the younger players.

Maybe it's because I have played so many 3D platformers throughout the years, but I had a hard time shaking the feeling that I had seen and done all this before. It goes well beyond the types of levels you explore, because even the obstacles are oddly familiar. A good example of that are the blue and yellow platforms that appear and disappear each time our hero jumps out of the ground. I like the challenge of navigating these areas, but can't shake the fact that these were taken directly from far better games starring a certain Nintendo mascot who doubles as an Italian plumber. You can trace every part of this game back to another game, which is a little disappointing. The concept of burrowing through the ground is unique, but the developers don't really do all that much with it. Neither the levels nor gameplay would change much if the hero was a regular ground-walking character like every other mascot animal on the market. For as much as I like the level designs, it feels like there's a missed opportunity here.

While I would have preferred a more original platformer, I can't deny that the colorful levels and varied obstacles ultimately won me over. Molty is an adorable hero that is a joy to control. The graphics are bright and cartoony, and a lot of the design decisions remind me of 3D games from the Nintendo 64 era. Best of all, the soundtrack is filled with these great jazz numbers that do a wonderful job setting the tone. It may not satisfy hardcore gamers looking for the next challenge, but Mail Mole is a delightful platformer that is perfectly suited for the younger set.