Felix The Cat Critic Reviews

Felix the Cat is a decent game. It’s rather routine. It’s slightly above average. But it’s not a passionless title with no value. On top of that, it’s a quality port. So, even if you come in with only an appreciation for the NES, the character, or Shimada Kikaku (for some reason), then you won’t be disappointed. Limited Run Games didn’t recover a hidden gem, but it gave an old cat another life.

If you’re looking for an official way to play the NES Felix the Cat, this is certainly the most affordable way to do so. It’s a pricy cart in the aftermarket, so having it widely available again along with its Game Boy counterpart is welcome. The game itself is a pleasing romp, albeit not much more than that. Still, I can’t help but wish there were some extras here. Every game has a story behind its creation, and telling this one would have helped make the package more special. Alas, we just get the game and a couple variants of it in a plain brown bag. Not bad, but it could have been so much better.

Felix the Cat serves as a trip down memory lane, offering a compilation of classic platformers starring the iconic animated character. While the games themselves are faithful to their originals and showcase the charm and variety of Felix's magical adventures, the overall package feels somewhat lacking. The absence of innovative gameplay and additional content, coupled with the limited appeal of Felix to modern audiences, might make this compilation more suited for nostalgic fans or collectors interested in video game history.

While it's a fine little nostalgia trip, unlike the titular character, the Felix the Cat collection is a bag lacking a lot of tricks.

Felix The Cat is a commendable effort to bridge the gap between the simplicity and complexity of video gaming's past and present. While it shines for speedrunners and retro gaming fans, its steep difficulty curve and some design choices may alienate casual players, although the rewind feature might be able to alleviate some of this. Nevertheless, for those willing to embrace its challenges, Felix The Cat offers a rewarding journey back in time, with enough modern twists to keep it engaging in today's gaming landscape.

NES enthusiasts, parents looking for an approachable retro game for their kids, and anyone with nostalgic sentiments toward Felix the Cat will find something to enjoy here – all the better if it’s on sale. This relatively sparse package boasts little else than two versions of the same hour-long, three-decade-old game, making it hard to justify at its full price point.

Felix the Cat is certainly a mixed bag; both literally and metaphorically. If you’re a diehard fan of Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer’s iconic anthropomorphic cat or just want to settle down for the afternoon with some easy retro platforming, you’ll probably enjoy Felix the Cat. Its repetitive tendencies, dull level design, and overall lack of challenge may put most others off, however. I’m not totally sure who wanted Felix the Cat ported to modern consoles if I’m being honest. But, it’s like I’ve already said—I’m always in favor of saving old games from obscurity.

Felix the Cat may have been a bit more of a novelty on the ‘90s platforms it arrived on, but time hasn’t been kind to this comic feline’s pixel-based adventures. Despite starring a cat with a magical bag, these two games have almost no tricks up their sleeves. The addition of the Famicom version yields very little in terms of noticeable gameplay differences, so its inclusion is a bit of a mystery. I know the answer, but why couldn’t these two games have just been added to NSO instead? What's more, the overall challenge will be markedly light for anyone with platforming experience, and there’s no shortage of extra lives to earn and power-ups to keep you from danger and propel you through the largely pedestrian level design. If this 2024 collection had a few more interesting extras thrown in, it may be worth a pick up, but as it stands, this is just another black cat you don’t want crossing your path.