What game out there can be considered hard? Where is a game that can challenge my prowess to the very limit? What game can test my patients and skills to overload and beyond? Well, then it's finally time. Let's play Silver Surfer! I've heard around it's a very hard game, and just to complete one level, and there are six in total! When people see an intense difficulty that makes the game seemingly unfair, I see a challenge....or an unfair game. Sometimes both.... Well, lets have a look at this game.

The story is that you, the Silver Surfer, needs to go on a mission to collect parts for a Cosmic Device, because there is an evil froce from "beyond". Galactus insists that you do this, or all life will die or something like that. Something about the Magik Domain, it wasn't explained very well. You get a choice of five levels (with a final sixth one after you defeat the first five), so yay Mega Man! There are two types of game modes, the overhead mode (which is like, well, watching the Silver Surfer over his head), and the side mode which is like watching the Silver Surfer from the side, funny how logic works). You can fire silver balls at our enemies, with a chance of getting an upgrade to fire more than one at the same time. I though many times before that this was an enemy that can't be killed, until I accidentally went into it and got a reward. Each level as three sections in it.

The game is, unsurprisingly, extremely hard. If you take one hit, you die and go back to the last checkpoint. I think you can die four times before a game over. Every death will take away power-ups you got from the level. It;s quite brutal, but I love it! Well, for the most part. Because it's so hard, I have a feeling of genuine satisfaction when I clear a part of that section that kept me dying all the time with nothing but skill....and bombs. You can use a sort of smart bomb to destroy all enemies on the screen, and I think you get one back for every death. It does get annoying as the slightest touch to the walls and scenery will kill you, and what makes it worse is that about half of it seems like the background. On more than one occasion I was almost convinced that I was fling in the right direction, but I flew into a wall. But that's ok, learn what kills you and what doesn't, and just try again.

The controls are simple enough for a scrolling shooter, but I can't say they're fluid enough for one. The controls feel a little too slow and sluggish to be dodging enemy fire where just one little thing can kill you. It doesn't drag on like your feeling really slow and clunky in a suit of armour or anything (it's funny because he's made of silver =D), but it would have been better if they were a little more fluid when moving around. Now, he is also a fairly big target to be when only one shot can kill you, making the entire system seem unfair, but it probably works well with the controls. If he was smaller, then faster controls would be nice. However, he's big for a shooter game, and having faster controls would probably result in you hitting the walls much more than you do now.

The graphics aren't that bad. They seem a little simple and plain in some places, but making them more complex and interesting in others, which really cover some of the enemy fire, causing another death. Sometimes they are nice to look at, while others are an eyesore. The most annoying thing about these graphics are that they blend in very well with both the background and foreground, almost as if the game designers intended that everything just "blend" together into one surprisingly managed and orderly mess in some parts of the game. In all honesty, I like the attention to detail in one of the fiery levels.

The music is just plain awesome! Sadly, there isn't a unique piece of music for every level, but what is of there is just amazing. It's a highly go-getting piece of music that gets you in the mood to defeat enemies that threaten the lives of the entire universe. Then there's the more atmospheric piece of music, that plays more subtly to evoke a mood that makes you feel as if you are being watched. Not that the enemies are subtle in this game or anything (did I just say that out loud =p)

This game is fairly addictive. It's a game I won't say no to if offered to play it, I'll tell you that. It's game play is rather fun once you get out of the way of the enemies line of fire. Sometimes, you won't get a warning to react fast enough to dodge, and die because you didn't know there were three rapid fire turrets waiting for you. On a side note, why is it just one hit to kill you? You get knocked off by one hit, which would mean the Silver Surfer isn't very good at balancing on his own board? what kind of logic is that? He can't take a single hit without going overboard? Maybe then, just maybe, this is his early years, and he is just practicing using the silver board for combat. That would certainly make sense, but then why is Galactus weighing the fate of the entire universe on his shoulders? Wait, what am I saying? This happens all the time in other games/animes/other, why should this be different? I proclaim it! No logic will dismay this fantasy of fixing a loophole.

Overall, I give it a 7.5/10       I like this game. I like the game play and the challenge. I might not like it a lot, but it's something different for my thumbs to thrash at. It might have flaws in, and it might be outrageously difficult, but it's a novelty that seems to last longer than others, so enjoy it while you can.