The touch controls are sporadically unresponsive, but otherwise it's quite entertaining to roam about the various levels - at least from a control perspective. Indeed, you'll be doing plenty of roaming. Since many of the environments within a particular level can look very much the same over time, it's not always clear where to go. Instead of a map, the top screen simply provides a portrait of Slimy and basic information about his health, your score, and items collected. The other problem is Slimy is a little too fragile; bumping into anything at high speed will harm him, but he'll also take a beating at odd times by running into seemingly tame objects.

While the 2D graphics in Mister Slime are on the simple side, the visual themes are light and colorful. Most levels have a pleasant, upbeat tone that perfectly matches the generally lighthearted nature of the game. The characters themselves aren't the most aesthetically pleasing, but the enemies have amusing behaviors that make up for it and keeps things interesting. The majority of the sound effects are mildly grating, but other areas of the game's audio are very much the opposite. The musical direction stands out noticeably; quite a few of the songs have interesting vocal sounds effects worked into them, and the playful tunes are fun and quirky.

After you've beaten the game, collecting all of the flowers scattered through each area (no easy task for those without ample staying power) unlocks a time attack mode for added replay value. Multiplayer modes require both players have a copy of the game, but those with the goods are rewarded with a versus speed challenge, flower eating competition, and score challenge.

Mister Slime features some cool control ideas and a few innovative gameplay elements. Unfortunately, it can be a struggle to stick with the gameplay for extended periods of time; there's little actual excitement to be had, since the slow pace plods on steadily. There's a solid game here for those with the patience to see it through.

By Nathan Meunier
CCC Staff Contributor