Title: Washington's Wig // Format: XBLIG // Release Date: 06-26-12 // Publisher & Developer: Team2Bit // Price: 80 MS Points // Violence: 0/3 // Sex: 0/3 // Mature Content: 0/3
>>>Beneath the famous historical feat Washington accomplished of bravely leading his freezing troops across the Delaware at midnight to defeat the drunken Hessians at Christmastime lies a darker, more formidable tale that only Team2Bit had the guts to tell. What on Earth happened to George Washington's wig?
Before he could become the fierce commander in the event that characterized his courage and helped him in becoming President, he needed his wig, and only the littlest known but most important figure in the history of the American Revolution, Dogsworth, could lend him a hand...
...or a paw.
The silly premise aside, "Washington Wig" acts as a one-button game where you rely on a single command that you must master in a variety of different situations. In the Arcade and Free Run modes, you only have access to Dogsworth, but in Time Trial Mode, you can play as one of four characters, the other three being Boutros Boutros, TOM, and Escape Goat, the latter two having their own self-titled games. While there exist differences in sprite size that give the four characters advantages based on where they are in the stage, each character can only do one of two things: jump and move around. Team2Bit chose to simplify the playing style, and although one command can leave you wishing for more, they did a good job with what they had.
Sure, you don't get any environmental changes outside of the floating ice on the Delaware River, but as Dogsworth progresses through the Arcade Levels or makes his way further into the Free Run mode, the developers slowly add in more enemies that require different approaches to getting around them. For example, the Bassett Hound lookalikes stand style, requiring you to merely hop over them. The Doberman's move toward you, so right when you land, you have to jump immediately out of their way. The bulldogs will jump at you, so after learning to jump after seeing any other dog, you might lose a life in learning that you need to slip under their stubby legs to make it on by. Each character has the option to perform a double job, receive assistance from an overhead eagle that carries said character over dangerous obstacles such as Dalmations on a canoe by air, and ride a sturgeon fish to bypass the same types of obstacles by sea. The sturgeon fish appears suddenly while the Eagle comes in at scripted moments in the game's programming. Your character, by the way, never keeps moving, and as he or she keeps onward, he or she will get faster, giving the character's single jumps bigger and wider arcs that render the ominous Dobermans from the second stage as non-threatening.
Since Team2Bit aimed specifically for a game that you only played with a single button (plus the Analog stick), the simplicity can't be argued against. For having only one command available to you, the game ensures that you encounter as many different scenarios as possible and figure out the tricks to adapting to the dangerous environment at-hand.
The only fuss-worthy aspect to mention is the lack of a coin display. I couldn't tell if it was the high score or the number of coins that gave me extra lives, but it would have been nice to know for sure by being able to see how many coins I had at the top of the screen.
All-in-all, Washington's Wig fulfills its intentions as a hi-scoring game. Design-wise, it's not the most exciting, but it's a well-executed idea with a charming concept (who wouldn't want to play as George Washington's dog), kicking music, and graphics that are cute if not sometimes repetitive. For 80 MS points, you definitely get your one dollar's worth out of Washington's Wig...no pun intended...
