As one of the earliest animated characters dating back to the silent film era, Felix the Cat’s popularity has waxed and waned over the decades. His charm, though, continues to endure beyond his centenary. He may be the only cartoon mascot older than Mickey Mouse to have also tried their hand at the Super Mario Bros. formula in a side-scrolling platformer, too.
Originally published by Hudson Software in 1992, Felix’s foray into video games came relatively late in the Nintendo Entertainment System’s (NES) lifespan alongside a heavily condensed port on the Game Boy. The titles are well remembered by those who played them but have fallen into relative obscurity and now fetch eye-watering sums on the second-hand market.
You are tasked with guiding the grinning black cat through nine worlds and multiple stages in a bid to rescue Kitty, the damsel in distress, from a maniacal mad scientist, the Professor, and his underlings, all characters from the 1958-60 television show that also appeared in the 1991 direct to video movie which the game appears to be loosely based around.
In a boon for game preservation, both the console and handheld versions of Felix the Cat have come to the Switch as a collection developed by Limited Run Games and published by Konami, current owners of Hudson and its IP. Equipped with save state and rewind features, this is the definitive way to revisit these games. But with the cost of entry at $24.99 MSRP, it’s a hard sell.
Hindsight also shows Felix the Cat falls short of the vaunted heights of its inspirations. It liberally incorporates tropes from the Super Mario Bros. series but lacks platforming finesse, and is eclipsed by 1993’s Kirby’s Adventure, with both games built around beginner-friendly approachability and the fun of discovering character transformations.
With a bag of tricks in hand, Felix is able to conjure vehicles like a tank, plane, and submarine and even ride a dolphin. Levels take place on dry land, some in the air, and others on or under water. Despite the shaken-up gameplay mechanics such different environments would usually imply, each of Felix the Cat’s levels feels relatively similar and recycled.
Felix’s movement leaves much to be desired and can be imprecise in certain vehicles. Level designs and boss fights are scantly iterated upon with little additional challenge or more clever enemy behaviours as you progress. Some stages offer verticality with Balloon Fight-style controls requiring you to mash the jump button to manoeuvre and stay afloat.
As a game largely intended for children, it offers especially low difficulty, even in its back half. You can easily dispense with cooker-cutter enemies with a single hit from a spring-loaded boxing glove. Hearts appear when Felix collects ten of the generously allocated coins emblazoned with his face throughout stages, powering up his abilities for a limited time.
In his most basic form, Felix has limited range and can lose a life with one touch of an enemy. But with a heart, he puts on a top hat and dispenses lethal razzle-dazzle in all directions. Further hearts put him in a vehicle that changes depending on the stage, affording a more ample attack range. Any enemy contact results in Felix reverting to his preceding form and its ability.
Collecting one hundred Felix faces grants an extra life, with the bag of tricks itself serving as a stand-in for green warp pipes that bring you to hidden rooms with loot. Despite changing up environments, abilities, and ways to manoeuvre, somehow Felix the Cat manages to offer only more of the same throughout its short and breezy campaign.
While serviceable from start to finish, the lack of inventiveness in its level design, lack of serious challenge, and repetitive gameplay began to grate around the halfway mark. That said, the NES campaign can be beaten in an hour, while the Game Boy version plays like what is it: a simplified monochromatic port with more than half of its levels cut.
To its credit, the colourful 8-bit environments and clear attention to detail — the titular feline falling asleep if the controller is left idle in one area — are endearing. There is clear reverence for the source material that shines through, and the handy rewind feature in this package undoes a fatal jump or enemy encounter and spares you from any needless frustration.
Holding down the 'ZL' trigger sends the gameplay into reverse with a black-and-white overlay in a thoughtful nod to Felix’s pioneering animations of the 1920s. Game progression can be saved on the fly from the pause menu, though there is only one save state per title at a time. There’s an optional yellow border and no others to choose from.
Conclusion
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.
Comments 60
“Felix is a cat”
The joy that was needed.
Only two games in this collection, huh? I just looked it up and there was apparently also a GBC game called Baby Felix Halloween, but I guess it's not included since it wasn't a Konami game. (or Hudson i guess)... mmm... Would have been nice to include more than just two games regardless though, because this isn't really worth the price in my opinion.
Pretty expensive for what it is, but the NES cart alone goes for over $100, so I guess it's a good deal? Personally, I'm not curious enough to buy it until it goes on sale, though. I don't see spending more than $15 on this thing.
The NES game is of my earliest memories in gaming. The nostalgia is so overwhelming for me that I simply had to revisit. But, yowza, that price tag! The price would’ve been more justifiable for me, personally, if the game had a completely redrawn, hand-animated remastered mode to go along with it, as a ‘Remastered’ tie-in.
But I bought it anyway, because my desire overpowered me. Curses!
The price for this is wild. It’s such a minimal collection. And Felix is not a big IP these days that will have people forking over the asking price to play. I just can’t justify paying full price for it.
I’ll wishlist it and try it out if it ever goes on sale. It’s a shame there isn’t more on offer here to get me to buy this day one.
This is why NSO is better. You get more games than buying them separately or in collections. You could have one year’s subscription to NSO for the cost of this collection, and no, you’re not going to want to keep playing these for long.
Hmm didn’t realize when Felix the cat came out. Watching cartoons in the 90’s was a head trip because so many older cartoons were in syndication so you really didn’t know what came out when. I watched just as much Flintstones as I did Biker Mice from Mars. But it does lend to how many 60’s cartoons were timeless. I will get these on a sale.
@Bass_X0 Agreed. Subs have made me a bit apathetic towards my existing physical collection because they take up so much space (and cost way more) for games I don’t play that often if at all anymore. I really prefer subscription services for now. I wouldn’t get rid of my existing library but I am hesitant to add to it.
I bought this, and noticed that it has a third option for the Japanese version. As far as I know that one was never officially released, but I haven't tried it to see if there are any differences or anything.
Anyway, the review is fair. I liked the NES version a lot back in the day, and have never tried the Game Boy one, but I certainly don't think there's $25USD worth of game here for anyone new to these games. As the review says, it does play a bit like Kirby, but it also reminded me of a less frenetic and slope-ridden Plok (with all the game-changing powerups and punch-based combat, I guess).
Also, it's a Konami collection so based on past experience, anyone who is interested might as well wait until it's below $10.
i feel like i saw that black cat before ..
Yet another absurdly priced Limited run game. It reminds me of Trip World, It was £2.49 on the 3DS virtual console, but limited run wanted more than 10x the price.
I'm not one for devaluing games, but given the VC pricing or hamsters arcade classics, this takes the cake.
@World The game was developed for a Japanese release, and one of the old Japanese Laserdisc video magazines has been uncovered with footage. Reportedly the released US version even still contained code for the Japanese text. (not sure if it was something like the NTSC versions of Ocarina of Time, which differ only by a single byte which was surely used as a hard-coded language setting)
I remember loving this game as a kid. Now to patiently wait for the physical version…
These are really old games that are very expensive on the retro market, and this compilation isn't much cheaper. So time to boot up the old NES emulator.
I rented this game* from the local video store a very long time ago....I think I beat it in about three or four hours. It was an enjoyable game, but it's hard to argue for it when there games on sale for like five dollars that have more content and replay value than this one.
I do like Felix the cat though.
*Edit: The NES version. Never played the game boy version.
A few days ago I got Yugioh LotDLE (Konami game) at 90% off for around 6 bucks on the eshop so I'd advice anyone to just wait for a good sale on this one.
@KingMike Oh, cool! Thanks for the additional information. I did know there was a Japanese version that was never released, but I didn't know how far along in the development cycle it had progressed.
Now I'm curious what differences there are between the two (if any, aside from language)!
I would had rather they remake these games and then include the originals as bonus free games, that would had been a better value.
@Bass_X0
"This is why NSO is better."
no indication that these games were ever coming to NSO so we don't know what you're talking about.
The Nes game is great, but thiis is basically just one game in the collection absolut a gameboy port with fewer levels, not worth to play at all.
So what we got is a 30 year old Nes game for $34.99. That is just insane.
The perceived value on retro games is always a wild discourse. People don't want to pay a flat high fee to own the game they want to pay a minimal subscription for essentially streaming it. People don't want to pay for something they don't own and want to buy games piece meal. Everyone has some crazy mental formula of what a good price is for a game based on age, popularity, length, extra features, and countless other factors.
At least the market reflects the consumers in this case, with the mess we now have of subscriptions and collections and single titles. I sure miss the simplicity of the virtual console Wii days. Though when it comes to this game which was a bonefied weekend rental blast, I'll stick with the AVS and Everdrive and continue not giving money to LRG.
The most surprising part of all of this is that Felix is apparently owned by Dreamworks
@-wc- Quest for Camelot continues to be the most confusing exception
@Zeebor15 I was under the (apparently incorrect) impression Felix was public domain. It seems that only applies to his earliest cartoons, not the character itself, sort of like Steamboat Willie / Mickey Mouse.
@JJtheTexan
To my understanding, the 1950's version of Felix the Cat is still copyrighted. Also, derivative works of public domain material can still be copyrighted, say if the Felix video game was based the 1920's version; Komami could still copyright their game.
@Zeebor15 Felix The Cat has a funny history in regards to his ownership. An animator by the name of Otto Messmer created him in the late 1910's but his boss took the credit and fortune during the original run.
After his boss died, Messmer worked on Felix comics with his protege Joe Oriolo, who went on to create Casper The Friendly Ghost and eventually develop the 50's iteration of Felix.
Oriolo managed to obtain the rights from the estate of Messmer's old boss and he eventually passed them down to his son Don, who spent many years producing various Felix projects, including the aforementioned 1991 movie.
In 2014, Don sold Felix to DreamWorks whose main intent was to essentially just him use for merchandising and fashion brands, so it seems there won't be any Felix cartoons or films in the near future.
@Zeebor15
pardon? I don't follow.
@Bass_X0 I find that assessment kinda weird, if you ask me. Now if it's the Virtual Console then yeah I could agree.
But NSO? No...nonono...just no. I'm better off emulating than pay for a subscription service. Especially GB & NES games.
@John_Koshiro I blame Jeffery Katzenberg
@John_Koshiro it's too bad DreamWorks may do nothing with Felix. I'd still like to see a continuation of the Twisted Tales of Felix the cat. A new Felix comic book did come out several months ago, so at least there's some new content out there.
The price is ridiculous.
I ordered the physical version that doesn’t come out to September. It cost even more.
Too expensive.
Just for this I will name my next black cat Salem, Sabrina if a female.
Fun game, I definitely recommend getting this on a sale though.
Especially considering that you're effectively getting ONE game when you take into account that the Game Boy version is a simplified port of the NES game, $24.99 is ludicrous. I wouldn't even pay that kind of money for a bona fide lost classic like Faxanadu.
This collection is worth $9.99 on the high end.
I've ordered the physical edition, which makes the high cost of entry seem a little less absurd (the digital version shouldn't cost anywhere close to the physical release's price of US$35).
Trip World DX got its own physical release, and it's a game designed to be beaten in a single sitting (like many, if not most NES/GB games).
I'm glad to have them and all, but they're frightfully expensive for the content on offer, and in most cases, they aren't exhaustive collections either. The Bill and Ted collection was missing a number of games, and this collection is missing a GBC game (as already pointed out).
Apart from the cost of licensing (and the IP evidently isn't even all that valuable, because when's the last time any of us have heard anything about Felix the Cat?), what's driving up the cost to such a degree?
In any case, I'd love to see retro The Simpsons and Beavis and Butt-head games get re-released at some point as well (hopefully sooner rather than later).
Does anyone else find it sus that the eshop page for this doesn't include any screenshots or videos? Like it's trying to lure in a purchase without letting people consider "wait a minute, this is what I'm spending my $38 (Australian) on?"
Felix is great, but Nintendo should open up their system like steam deck or "developer mode" on Xbox so people can enjoy all the old public domain games easily. Collections should then offer some kind of bonus content or various improvements or something.
@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot
Its why i still really wish that NSO at least had the OPTION of letting people buy the games (kind of like gamepass on xbox and the legacy content on PS+), since while i can see how a service is fine for those who want to be one-and-done with the games for others there are plenty of games which they would gladly replay,
For me i would be more than happy to buy the likes of banjo-kazooie, Golden sun 1-2, Mario world, earthbound, alongside many other classics since i always enjoy returning to games i love and a good game is a good game no matter the age.
Even with games like this there's bound to be some people with which it is one of their all time favourite games and would be happy to replay them often so I'm happy that its available for those people.
@Mgalens The NSO games are an incentive to pay for the service. They’re not going to reduce sales of the service by taking away the incentive to do so.
“Ownership” only becomes an issue when the Switch is at the end of its life and the service is on the verge of being shut down. At that time the Switch 2 will have been active for a few years with the same or an equivalent service. No you won’t be able to play NSO games on Switch 1 five - ten years from now but the games aren’t going anywhere. Nintendo will always be pushing them on us in some form or another.
100+ NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color and SNES games for one year is worth the cost of this collection which only has one Game Boy game and one NES game.
Luckily MSRP matters the least since most games are regularly and even significantly discounted nowadays so I'll eventually get this for sure, quite curious to give these games a try based on what I've heard from comments here on Nintendo Life!
@Bass_X0 As much as I would love an option to purchase the NSO games for those who prefer it, I agree with you that NSO is overall much better for many, me included, considering not only how cheap it is compared to standalone releases like this one especially if you share a family plan with friends (I pay around €10 per year, including the Expansion Pack), but also that you'll still be able to play its apps at least through modding when it gets discontinued unlike most games as a service, an aspect that is way too often disregarded when people discuss about - or should I say unfortunately in most cases vehemently argue against - it.
@JJtheTexan Little Nemo is perhaps a more famous example.
Little Nemo is public domain. However, the one people likely know most, from the Capcom NES (and much lesser known arcade) game was based on a 1980s anime film, so Capcom can't rerelease the games unless they pay TMS again for a license.
Wild anyone would pay such an absurd price (for the retro plastic or for this, both absurd) for such meh old games.
Also Fritz the Cat was cooler.
@beartown literally just played the ROM on my raspberry pi for free and can't say it's worth more than 10 mins of play.
I was hoping it was a remake of the NES game but I suppose that would have gotten more publicity prior to release. Decent platformer for it's time but not really any where near top of anyone's big wishlist, I guess. Think I'll only ever get this on a super deep discount around future holiday periods. Cheers for the review
@JohnnyMind
The modding thing is why i do prefer it to something like most games-as-service or something like those cloud releases (though it does feel odd that the cloud games are available for purchase when they would make more sense to be tied to a service given the very nature of cloud gaming requires online)
for me its just more of an ideal/dream situation where the games were also purchasable (for me my favorite retro gaming service was the "psone classics" on ps3/vita/psp since games purchased could be used across all 3 systems and saves could be transferred too, and while the new PS+ service is nice, letting you play the games via subscription and/or purchase along with offering some games for free if you already bought the "psone classics" version it is a wiiu VC situation when it comes to library)
I do like the amount of retro compilations we have been getting though naturally they can vary in value and quality, its also been nice that we have been getting some games localized for the first time via some of these compilations, and it does make me wish nintendo also offered collections like those (though hopefully without the "limited digital" nonsense that 3d all-stars had)
@Mgalens Yep, we've already pleasantly discussed it in the past, I absolutely can see where you're coming from and I'm glad you acknowledged my point, too! Yeah, not a fan of cloud games at all (although I'm still glad they're an option for those interested - not me - over not having those games at all) exactly because you pay them like regular releases while having all the disadvantages of games as a service.
I don't think you've mentioned the "psone classics" before, that really seems like an ideal way to tackle it and I hope that apart from being able to purchase them as I unfortunately doubt it will happen it will work in a similar way for NSO between Switch 1 and 2.
Also, while I prefer NSO over how it used to be with the Virtual Console because it's so much more convenient I absolutely don't mind the compilations in general and even more so when they are the occasion for localizing certain games for the first time as you mentioned and/or have extras that would be absent if they were on NSO - the Cowabunga Collection and Atari 50 immediately come to mind for example! Yeah, also hope Nintendo will stop the "limited digital" nonsense, it has barely happened (other than 3D All-Stars I recall only the first Fire Emblem), but it really shouldn't have.
@JohnnyMind
yeah I'm glad that limited digital was only those games since i was concerned at the time it would be a trend.
@John_Koshiro Sounds like Pat Sullivan was the Walt Disney of his era.
@-wc- I never said they were.
I said 100+ Game Boy, Game Boy Color, NES and SNES games is a better deal for the same cost as one Game Boy game and one NES game.
Just emulate it. This is a great game, but these publishers have gotten incredibly lazy with rereleases and we shouldn't reward this kind of behavior. Not even if it's on sale for $10.
@Bass_X0
you are comparing apples to oranges on a number of different levels, here.
not owning some games on a subscription model for $X/mo, vs owning two other games (that will never be part of that subscription) indefinitely for a one time payment of $Y. I'm sorry but you havent really made your case that those things are equivocal, let alone mutually exclusive. ✌️
(EDIT - for the record I had expansion pak for a year and let it lapse, and I won't be re subbing any time soon, or buying these Felix games at this price or anything like it. so that's where my money is.)
@PKDuckman He was even worse; the dude was a racist alcoholic and a convicted predator.
@Zeebor15 You're correct. Katzenberg was the one who oversaw the Felix acquisition and announced the merchandising plan.
@John_Koshiro Huh. Maybe he was just trying to get his own Oswald?
I always liked Felix as a character. I still have a little stuff toy of him I got from a kids meal somewhere. This game I thought about getting but it just doesn’t seem like a good value. The sparkster/rocket knight collection seems a better value but I’m not sure I’ll ever really play those again either.
Funnily enough, I recently found a cartridge for this game in our storage room. I’m pretty sure it’s a famicom bootleg cart and I’m almost certain we never actually played it (because we had an NES, not a famicom!), but it works perfectly fine despite collecting dust for 30 years.
The game is genuinely fun, in my opinion.
£20 seems way too much for whats on offer here.
I watched those cartoons when I was a wee lad but I will wait for a sale when it's 5 euro or less...
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