Run RunMan, Man

Huzzah! The lunatic primary madness of RunMan: Race Around The World is out, and it's super-fun. You play little yellow blob RunMan, and you, well, run. Mostly to the right, smashing through obstacles and bouncing around the scenery. All displayed in child-like scratchy drawings that make my mind happy.

The game's free to download, but you're very subtly encouraged to offer donations to the creators, Tom Sennett and Matt Thorson (who can only be the son of Thor!). You should entirely do that.

The levels embrace that Sonic-like balance of speed and progress, where slowing down is a failing, but bouncing in the wrong direction makes you a failure. Perhaps my main criticism is that they're too short - it would be nice to have a bit more room and distance. Best of all are the chase levels where a giant beast of some nature is pursuing you, giving greater imperative to your progress than the high score. These require repeated practise to learn all the traps along the route, and give a bit more longevity to a level.

The music heard in the trailer does indeed make it into the game, all areas entertained by 20s/30s out-of-copyright jazz/blues, which is somehow the perfect accompaniment for a game about racing a yellow blob through a child's scrawled world. Get yourself a copy from here.