Action Henk

If Action Henk had taken its character design in a normal direction, it would still be a good game. The 2.5D platforming racer is a mix of Sonic, Trials and Toy Commander, with responsive controls, an addictive gameplay loop and a competent progression system. The decision to use such bizarre character models, especially when you have to consider that these characters are meant to be action figures, is what sets it apart from other games in its genre.

You only have to be a few levels in to determine that the developers wear their inspiration for this game on their sleeves, going so far as to include pictures of Sanic (no I didn't misspell that) along with other campy takes on pop culture references. This inspiration translates well to a game that could have sailed by without all the little nods and attention to detail. After all, in a game where twitch reflexes are paramount, you're rarely looking at the backgrounds, but do yourself a favor and take a run or two to appreciate it all the same.

As explained above, Action Henk is a racing game, but its mechanics and physics are straight out of a Sonic title. Whereas with Sonic you'd be bouncing off or plowing through enemies, there is none of that here, but the speed and track layouts are consistent with what you'd find in casa de Hedgehog. You're given a few moves, primarily a jump of course for the regular obstacles, a slide for the Hot Wheels ramps which increases your speed, and a wall jump (which isn't explained well) for vertical sections. Combining these three moves in the most efficient way is your key to getting the Gold medal on the tracks you are presented with.

Speaking of medals, you must obtain at least the bronze on all tracks in an area before you can progress to the "Boss Race", where you will be matched up against another weirdo character that you can acquire once you've beaten them. The characters are goofy, no doubt about that, and some of them might push the envelope for what is deemed socially appropriate, but this approach makes the game that much more enjoyable to play.

Throw in multiplayer, a track editor, leaderboards, achievements, Steam trading cards and cross-play and you've got a game with immense replayability. Even if I were to just get through the single player, I would have been happy enough with this game, but the value is magnified tenfold with all these little extras. Combine that with the fact that this game is frequently on sale or in bundles, and you've got yourself a title well worth picking up.

Action Henk can be tough as nails sometimes, even on the second boss I was having trouble, and unless you figure out some tricks, or can regularly complete a series of split-second moves, you will have a bit of a time getting into this game. While the environments and atmosphere create the impression of a humorous, casual experience, it quickly becomes anything but.

As tracks get increasingly more complex, you will struggle with certain pieces like advanced loops, vertical climbs and multi-lane landings. While the tracks are certainly short enough for this to be less unbearable, you may commonly find yourself up in arms with track sections that appear to be unfair. You can try to master these individual sections by utilizing checkpoints, but since checkpoints only bring you back and do not reverse time, they seem strangely useless for anything else. More often than not, you will be returning to the beginning of the track after a mistake.

Despite this, even when you're yelling at the screen for a mis-timed jump or blip in inertia, you'll find yourself more than willing to give it another go, and another, and another, until it's 4 in the morning and you realize you have to get up for work in 3 hours. Oops!