I first experienced Lowtek Games' Flea as part of the Indie Heroes cartridge on the Evercade! It's now been combined with Lowtek Games' other release Tapeworm Disco Puzzle in the Parasite Pack on consoles! Now with added achievements on Xbox!
Publisher Ratalaika games has packaged both of these retro inspired puzzle games into a very affordable (£5.99 RRP, £4.79 launch discount) price.
Flea! is a challenging 2D platformer where you play as a hyperactive flea named Henry who is unable to stop jumping. It features retro graphics and really reminded me of a retro Super Meat Boy. It was originally kickstarted as a brand new Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) release (yes even a cartridge version!) and eventually made is way to pc. The game features 80 different levels filled with weird characters and multiple secrets. The game features a simple control scheme with left and right directing your jumping direction while adjusting your height to avoid dangers and fit through gaps. You start with alot of lives, but this is one of those games where you can burn through double digits worth of lives in a single level. Luckily you can collect blood (as fleas do) and trade them in for lives when you fill up a bottle. The game also features boss levels too, these break up the standard gameplay and add more of a challenge.
The other game in the pack is Tapeworm Disco Puzzle. This is a grid based puzzle game where you play as a night club owning tapeworm (yes, you did read that right). Your job is to help your patron fleas enjoy themselves by helping them collect blood, play banging tunes and get them to gigs on time.
You basically have to navigate your tapeworm through the levels collecting musical notes whilst avoiding enemies obstacles. The game features 100 levels to play through, with boss levels that give off a mobile phone snake vibe. The game also features a co-op mode that you can jump into with a friend.
Overall the collection brings two retro puzzle games with plenty of content to consoles in one well built package. The addition of a rewind feature that enables you to undo any mistakes you make is nice as it saves you having to totally restart each level if you mess up. There's 180 levels across two different styles of game to play through and you can grab the full 1000g within about two hours (skill depending). Add in the fact the packs price and you're in for a good time!
TOTAL SCORE:
8/10
Parasite Pack was released on 1st July 2022 and is playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The game supports Smart Delivery and is optimised for Xbox Series X/S. The game can be purchased HERE for £4.79.
We were provided a copy of the game for this review. Big thanks for that!
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