Punch, Cry, Game.

There's no shortage of titles following this trend, but games with the “clone” mechanic certainly do put a fresh spin on a true classic genre in the video game world. If you don't know what I mean, then you probably haven't heard of the game that took it to the mainstream, Braid. The cloning mechanic has added a new flair to the traditional platformer by making puzzles intricately more challenging, with cause-and-effect at the center of your every move. Games like, Chronotron, and my personal favorite, The Company of Myself, have moved to give this new sub-genre a foot in the flash medium. Today's game tries to take that same enthusiasm and mix it with retro memorabilia in Klikscene's own, Enough Plumbers.

The basic premise is simple enough, you are a Super Mario clone that needs to clone himself in order to solve puzzles. What sets this entry different from the ones mentioned before is both in the sheer number of clones you will have (there can be a dozen at a time), to the nature of the clones themselves. In all the games I gave as examples before, your clones (or shadows, in most cases) mimic the actions you performed before you brought them into existence. Forcing you to plan ahead and think, not only in terms of what comes next, but also in terms of what will happen two or three spawns from now. In, Enough Plumbers, your clones spawn every time you pick up a coin, and follow your every moment in real time. This small but clever change to the way the style is usually executed makes all the difference in challenge and predictability. You no longer have the added advantage of knowing exactly where your shadow will end up, so you have to plan your movements carefully, as the slightest mistake could leave you and your clones stuck with no way out except for a cold reset.


The challenge might be new but the flavor is all Super Mario, when it comes to the sound, graphics, and general atmosphere. The presence of goombas, coins, bricks, turtles, buttons, and of course; power-ups, will leave you feeling right at home if you've been playing the games since the beginning of the series. The music, while being fairly original, gives the occasional nod to the beats we know and love (dig the funky version of the underground tunnel theme during the stage select screen.).


The game feels good. It would be easy to look down on it because it is another in a growing list that follow the latest trend. It would be even easier to dismiss this as just another “Super Mario clone,” however, everything fits together just right, and the presentation of the classic meeting the fashionable brings this game to the top of my list. I highly recommend it.

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