Blinx the Time Sweeper (Xbox)

By JON MINIFIE

(Herald rating: * * * * )

Platform games follow the blueprint popularised by Mario, Nintendo's premier pint-sized pipe cleaner. There's running, jumping, climbing, collecting random objects and yahooing.

Blinx the Time Sweeper contains many Nintendo influences, including the vacuum cleaner made famous in Luigi's Mansion, and there's the mandatory cute animal lead character — a wide-eyed cat that wears goggles and steel-capped boots.

On an alien planet inhabited mostly by kitty cats, Blinx is just another fuzzy face in the crowd at the Time Factory until he decides to rescue the princess who has been kidnapped by the malevolent Tom-Tom gang.

On the surface Blinx looks a conventional 3D platformer but it has several unique features, including the lead characters' ability to manipulate time.

When players collect Time Crystals they can pause or slow time, rewind time or even record time and replay the level later. Blinx must work his way through countless levels, buying various gadgets along the way.

This is a huge game, and not easy. There are demanding boss battles at the end of each world and you're always racing the clock.

$129.95

jon@tenthplanet.co.nz