Goblyn Stomp (XBLIG): "Old Fashioned Pest Control"

Very rarely do I get to play a game that is this unique. The developer (Mountain Folk Software) behind 'Goblyn Stomp' created this simple yet fun experience that held my attention. The game features an art style like that of an old black & white cartoon. The music even appears to be influenced by such a source. As the gamer you take on the role of Chap Scaliwag, a shopkeeper who's business has been plagued by a goblyn infestation. The main goal of the game isn't to totally eradicate the goblyn population, but instead it's to survive as long as you can. These goblyn fiends will constantly try to bite our gentleman hero as he stomps, canes, and blows them up with remote mines.

Goblyn Stomp is a fairly straightforward game. As Chap Scaliwag (The main character) you must get rid of your goblyn pests, and stay alive as long as you can to score the highest amount of kills. The sepia toned town square in which this old fashioned cartoon inspired game takes place will become populated by more, and more goblyns as you kill them off. Your only means to fend off these creatures is a couple of types of stomps, your cane, and remote mines. In order to gain use of the advanced weapons such as remote mines, the fantastic jump, and your cane spin you must kill a certain amount of goblyns. You'll find that staying alive is not quite as simple as it looks considering you have one 'heart' for life that quickly loses pieces as you are attacked.

Controls in Goblyn Stomp are simple, so that you can focus on the ever-growing goblyn horde that is continuously growing/advancing. To start off with you have the basic jump move which requires you to press the 'A' button, and land on the goblyns. Once you've splattered enough of them on the street you will gain the 'Fantastic Jump' ability that allows Chap Scaliwag to perform a stronger stomp after jumping. This move can be executed by pressing the 'X' button after a jump. When you've killed about 300 goblyns you'll acquire a second skill that allows you to drop, and detonate up to 10 remote mines. The 'Left Trigger' is used to drop the mines while the 'Left Bumper' button is used to detonate them. You have to be careful though, because the mines can also hurt Chap Scaliwag. The final skill you'll earn is the 'Cane Spin'. With this move you can easily clear a crowd of goblyns that are in front of you. To perform the cane spin you simply hold the 'X' button while walking.

In the end I found this game to be very fun. The highscore part made me want to see just how good I could do. I played it several times trying to figure out a way to best the developers highest score, but only managed to score 2,000+ kills. It definitely takes a good bit of strategy to get the highest score in this game. You'll find that just stomping around won't get you very far. Aside from the challenge I really liked how the final score was displayed. The hero of the game, Chap Scaliwag stands upon a mound of goblyns with a sign post beside it letting you know just how good you did. While the graphics were simple, and the game was confined to one area I still liked the artistic route the developer took. It's nice to see developers such as Mountain Folk Software take some past concepts, and bring them to life on next-gen consoles. Their use of colors/tones, and the music brought back memories of the old cartoons I used to watch as a child. I think this game is definitely worth the 80 msp ($1). It gives you something new in an old fashioned way.