FoxyRush

[h1]FoxMania: The Quest To Review All Fox Games On Steam![/h1] [i]Conditions for inclusion: [list] [*] -The player character must be consistently a fox; the fox must not be merely a skin or a character option [*] -Must have 100% working Steam achievements [*] -Must not be a visual novel [/list][/i] [b]Game #37: FoxyRush[/b] This is a one-button auto-runner game. The fox runs automatically in one direction until it hits a wall. But it isn’t just a game of reflexes; the levels offer many opportunities to stop running, allowing for some timing-based puzzles. The double-jump flings you forward at a faster speed than running, which adds an element of skill to a lot of the jumps, and also allows you to outrun some otherwise-undodgable obstacles. There are 64 levels. Each level has 3 optional challenge stars. Signs point towards most of the optional routes, but the method of getting the stars isn’t always obvious, making for some minor routing puzzles. Soon, the game starts introducing Meat Boy sawblades, enemies, and additional movement methods like swinging ropes and bounce springs. Levels are blissfully short and checkpoints are numerous, so there isn’t a lot of stress. Still, some of the challenge stars are quite tricky and satisfying to solve. I’ll admit, I was expecting this to be some GameMaker shovelware. It uses the free SunnyLand asset pack, which is true of about a dozen fox games I’ve been actively avoiding for this review series. I chose this because I wanted to finish some quick games and maybe get to Game 40 by the end of 2025. But I was surprised! This was a decent, solid game with genuine care put into the controls and level design! It’s also got some nice music, more than a little reminiscent of BIT.TRIP RUNNER. At first I was not a big fan of the moving obstacles, as they seemed luck-based. But I began to realize that there is always a method of waiting for them to move, or dodging them with an alternate jump, and that most of my failures were due to my own impatience. If you learn the controls and get good at jumping, there are many tricky “sequence break” jumps you can make that skip some of the obstacle gauntlets, which felt great to figure out. I also loved the introduction of bounce springs, which immediately started getting used in Mario Maker-style contraptions that bounce you halfway across the level. So, do I have any complaints? Well, not very much! [list] [*]-As far as the level design goes, the only thing I really disliked was how some checkpoints are placed after alternate paths to stars, in such a way that you lose the star when you respawn from the checkpoint and can’t get it back unless you restart the level from scratch. But levels are very short, so it wasn’t a big deal. [*]-The only bug I encountered was a broken checkpoint on level 60. [*]-It seems the developer forgot to finish implementing achievements, and they stop at level 18. [/list] I got all 192 stars in 3.5 hours. It was short and sweet, and provided a satisfying challenge that didn’t go overboard. The controls and physics felt solid and purposeful. It was fun. Honestly, I don’t have a lot of negative things to say. I consider this as a reminder of why I’m doing a review series and giving every game a chance. As much as I love to see new and interesting ways for a game to be terrible, I also love to be pleasantly surprised. 4.5 / 10.