The one man team of RCMADIAX has been hitting up the Wii U eShop frequently this past year, with budget titles like BLOK DROP U providing quick bursts of fun at a low price. The latest game to release is SPIKEY WALLS, a simplistic yet addicitng auto-scrolling platformer of sorts.

SPIKEY WALLS' simplicity holds firm throughout its entire presentation, as you control a Fly with repetitive taps of the A button. Your goal is merely to survive as you pass through walls coated in deadly spikes, but a parabolic flight arc adds a sense of challenge to an otherwise easy game.

You can guide your fly to a high score... and that's about all there is to do. There is an encouraging Miiverse icon for posting high scores, but it is just that, an icon encouraging you to post on Miiverse just like in any other game. Direct Miiverse integration might have been a large step up for SPIKEY WALLS, and could have offered a quick and easy way to upload high scores.

As you may have noticed, SPIKEY WALLS plays similarly to famous app store game Flappy Bird, and the developer even acknowledges this similarity himself. Even if SPIKEY WALLS is viewed as a clone of a successful game, does it deserve all the hate it has recieved? The developer is simply offering an alternative to a popular game on a console the original game does not support- a viable marketing strategy. We won't bring up the whole 'cloning games' argument here, but just realize that RCMADIAX is just trying to fill an open market; would a platformer that controls like Mario but looks different be as harshly criticised as SPIKEY WALLS, or praised for capturing the enjoyability of its inspiration? Regardless, it is your opinion to decide if you want to enjoy SPIKEY WALLS or criticise it.

Regardless of where its idea came from, SPIKEY WALLS brings all the action of flying through endless openings onto the Wii U eShop, with sleek presentation and a low price. As it stands, it is almost too simple, as online leaderboards or different game modes would have gone a long way. If you haven't ever played Flappy Bird, or really enjoyed it, then SPIKEY WALLS is an affordable way to play on your Wii U.


Review copy provided by: RCMADIAX