The Fancy Pants Adventures games are the best platformers on the internet and even outclass many examples of full-price console games in the genre.
It’s now been three years since the first game came out and it’s well-regarded as a classic.
The secret to its success is its combination of Mario-style platforming with Sonic The Hedgehog’s speed and the way the levels are designed to make the most of the character’s abilities.
Its controls are simple and although the game is easy, it’s great fun to play through and has a surprisingly high replay value – although some may have found the controls a little too “slippy” due to the character’s momentum.
Plus, the main character is called Fancy Pants Man, which is an instant win in my book.
A winner is him.
So inevitably there was a sequel, which sought to build on these successes and improve the existing game system.
The first thing you notice is the animation is even slicker this time around. Fancy Pants Man is incredibly well-animated and even has an idle action.
His move list has been extended – he can do a wall jump (which you could unlock in the first game, admittedly) and can do a slide when he’s running, making him much more lethal.
Wheee!
It even has a story this time round. A tale of heroism, right and wrong, and deep characterisation. One that raises serious ethical dilemmas… actually, no. The plot is – evil bunny done steal ur icecream and now u want go get it back grr.
OK, so the creator admits himself that it’s pretty silly but I do like his sense of humour. And it backs up my conviction that bunny rabbits are evil (insert shameless Bunny Invasion plug here).
The game is much bigger and has six levels (although the different locations have no effect on gameplay, not that it matters). The enemies are harder this time, as they are only stunned first when you jump on them. To kill them, you have to hit them again.
Have some of that!
You can then play keepie-up with their corpses by touching them as they bounce off-screen, which is a little macabre and leads me nicely on to the main bonus mission in the game.
Each level has a snail in it somewhere. Once you’ve murderised it by stomping on its head, you can play golf. Yep.
There is a golf hole on each level that you can knock the shell into. These are quite tricky and can cause a little bit of frustration, but they’re worth it in the end because each hole unlocks a new colour of Fancy Pants!
He’s getting quite a wardrobe of Fancy Pants there, though he still refuses to wear a shirt.
There are also trophies that you can find in the levels, along with plenty of secrets. It’s obvious a lot of care has gone into the game and its mechanics.
I haven’t even mentioned the greased walls that you can improbably slide up by jumping at them, nor the fact that within a couple of steps you can get Fancy Pants Man (FP to his friends) travelling so fast that he can run UPSIDE DOWN.
It doesn’t matter that he’s breaking the laws of physics. He’s the God damn Fancy Pants Man.
I realise this game is a year old now and you will probably have played it already, but the real news is that Fancy Pants Man 3 seems to be well underway.
The developer has released a couple of screens of the new sequel and has also put out a Youtube video.
What’s the latest innovation to the series?
Swimming.
Seriously, it’s looking great. We only put the best games on our website and you can be certain that when Fancy Pants Man 3 goes on general release, we’ll have it here.
Get Fancy: Fancy Pants Adventures 2
Written by: Richard Wilson
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