"Axel & Pixel"
For: Xbox 360 Live Arcade
From: Silver Wish/2K Play
ESRB Rating: Everyone (comic mischief, crude humor)
Price: $10
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We're waist-deep in a 2D gaming renaissance that has seen character animation reach Disneyesque levels, so it's an ironic kind of pleasant to experience "Axel & Pixel," which magnificently bucks that trend by acting as if the 1970s never ended. "Pixel" operates primarily as a point-and-click adventure game, and it follows the rules of the genre -- explore the scene and figure out what objects and cause-and-effect relationships will get Axel and his trusty dog Pixel to the next area -- pretty faithfully. The control scheme and cursor design feel tuned to accommodate a gamepad, making the lack of a mouse a non-issue, and occasionally "Pixel" interrupts the storyline with a more action-heavy mini-game that uses the controller to full effect. (Three of the mini-games are playable as standalone modes with additional levels and leaderboards, and one of them -- a physics-heavy dune buggy platformer -- arguably is the best part of the entire package.) The sum of these parts would be nice in any clothing, but "Pixel" knocks it out of the charm park by taking two very likable leads and dressing their world in a visual and animation style that feels like a product of the same pen Terry Gilliam used for all those wonderful "Monty Python" animations. It's weird, but it works, and it elevates "Pixel" from just another fun point-and-click adventure to a class all its own.
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