Overview:

Alex Trax is a free flash game from NeoDelight that stars a young Korean on a bicycle trying to make it back to a sweatshop because he forgot some keys or something. I’m really not sure, but he’s also sporting a wet suit, army helmet, and pink bike. This game sounds totally stupid, right? Well it’s not. The majority of the students in my electronics class in highschool (taught by one of the greatest men I’ve ever known, George Corey) played this game every single day until one of us were finally able to beat it. It’s a hard game.

Review:

Gameplay:

Only the most dedicated will make it to the last 2 levels.

Alex Trax is a side scrolling platformer in which you race against the clock to make it to the end of each treacherous level to get closer to your goal. You’ll use the left and right arrows to lean back and forward respectively, up to accelerate, down to go backwards, space bar to revers direction, and the shift key to jump. Each level is full of terrain obstacles including steep hills, verticle walls, spikes and sick jumps. Handling isn’t too tough to get used to but the physics are a little floaty.

Graphics:
On the graphical front Trax features bright, colorful backgrounds. Terrain texture work isn’t the prettiest, but you can tell what everything is. Alex’s character could’ve looked a lot better without his pink bike and army helmet, but his animations all work just fine I guess.

Sound:
This is where Alex Trax really accels in my opinion. While the music is all rather generic, the background sounds are what really set the mood. Birds chirp and wind blows steadily while the Alex’s bike cicks and whirs. That sound you hear when you wreck is just plain annoying though. It sounds kinda like: Gwhooaaooh. Ugh.

Trust me, this is a lot harder than it looks.

Lasting Appeal:
Alex Trax may only feature 6 levels, but each one of them (save maybe the first) is a real challenge. It takes

skill, patience, and dedication to reach the end of this game. Back when I first started playing this game, me and a couple friends (Bart Joseph and Josh Purviance) had a race to see who could be the entire game. It took us about 15 minutes to beat and we were thoroughly seasoned players by that time. Any unexperience player could clock in close to an hour of nonstop play and still not beat the game. That’s pretty decent for a flash title.

Final Words:

Alex Trax is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The game looks simple enough but has a breakneck difficulty level that takes tons of practice to ever become decent, let alone master each level.

Pros:

• Simple controls work great
• Detailed sound
• Colorful background
• Great lasting appeal

Cons:

• Great challenge might discourage some players
• Blah foreground visuals
• Generic music

Score:

Overall: 7.9/10 (Above average)
Gameplay: 8.0/10 (simple controls, floaty physics)
Graphics: 7.5/10 (colorful backgrounds, subpar foreground)
Sound: 7.5/10 (generic music, detailed background effects)
Lasting Appeal: 8.5/10 (takes time and effort)