Alien on the Run

Genre: Arcade

Players: 1

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Review:

Alien on the Run is an Arcade-style game released on Nintendo 3DS in 2014. Players take the role of a bizarre-looking alien trying to escape from other aliens using beam-spotlights to snatch him up onto their spaceship.

The visuals here are simple, yet memorable due to the bizarre titular alien, Delude. This colorful horned creature with a criss-cross patch over his mouth darts between spotlights while striking various poses that make various pop culture references, such as recreating the famous Merilyn Monroe exhaust vent pose, rocking out on a guitar, or striking a pose like a football player tossing a ball. None of this makes any sense, but it’s quirky and amusing.

On a technical level, there’s not much going on here. Beyond Delude himself, the game’s 3D levels are simple and obstacles are similarly simple. This is backed by an energetic but forgettable soundtrack. I suppose Delude’s strange antics are making up for the lack of anything especially noteworthy in the rest of the presentation here.

The gameplay is similarly simple, yet oddly compelling. The game’s levels are set up like obstacle courses with the goal of running right and reaching the exit. Along the way, you’ll have to dodge out of the way of spotlights, although the game encourages players to slide into orange-colored spotlights, resulting in Delude destroying the spotlight by striking a pose and earning the player bonus time to complete the level. Again, this doesn’t exactly make sense, but it’s satisfying and enjoyable to do.

These “get to the end” levels are occasionally broken up by levels where players need to collect all bottles of hot sauce in a level, which makes things a bit different as they’re no longer racing to one spot but trying to find multiple items as quickly as possible.

In the end, Alien on the Run is simple, and very weird, but despite this (or perhaps because of this), it is oddly compelling. For a mere $4, this game is charming and fun enough that I would argue it’s worth giving a try, and there are enough levels in the game to keep it interesting for a good long while. If you’re looking for a unique time-waster on Nintendo 3DS, this game is $4 well-spent.

tl;dr – Alien on the Run is an Arcade-style game that puts players into the role of an alien running to an exit while evading spotlights (or in some cases, destroying them by posing within them). It’s an odd and simple game, but it is nevertheless a fun and compelling one, and it is well worth its tiny $4 price tag.

Grade: B

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