A new rating has emerged for the most unlikely retro video game revival: Felix The Cat.
As reported by NintendoLife, the ESRB dropped their rating for Felix The Cat, from Konami. The game received an E for Everyone, and is coming to PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. The ESRB also shared this description:
“This is a collection of action platformers in which players help Felix save his girlfriend from an evil professor. Players traverse 2D pixelated environments while using gadgets and vehicles (e.g., punching glove, tank, submarine) to defeat small cartoony creatures. Enemies typically fall from the screen when hit; some boss encounters depict whimsical pistol attacks, cartoony bombs, and mild explosions.”
Felix the Cat was a cartoon character created in 1919, dating back to the silent film era. Felix is one of the most important cartoon characters of all time, providing many landmarks in cartoons, comic strips, animation, and television.
Interestingly enough, this listing can only refer to one Felix the Cat video game, developed by Hudson Soft. The NES version was released in 1992, and the Game Boy version came a year after. It was released in the US and Europe, but supposedly was cancelled for Japan. While Game Boy versions of NES games could often have interesting differences and changes, this version of the game is as straightforward a port as possible.
Felix’s ownership changed a few times, but by the time of this game’s creation, the rights were with Don Oriolo, who was also planning other new Felix cartoons at the time, such as 1995’s The Twisted Tales of Felix The Cat.
In 2023, Felix The Cat is owned by – well, Dreamworks. Don sold the rights to the entertainment giant in 2014. Dreamworks have surprisingly not moved to make any new cartoons for him, even as a streaming show.
In the meantime, Hudson Soft, developer of classic games like Bomberman and Adventure Island, and onetime console creator, of the TurboGrax-16, was sold to Konami in 2012. So, to set the record straight, Konami didn’t make the Felix The Cat game, but they do own the rights to it now.
And for those who have never played it? The NES Felix The Cat game is fun, and a little bit too easy. Felix has a jump and attack button like Mario, but unlike Mario, you can power him up to four times, with each power up making him invulnerable for one hit. The NES game only has nine levels, and the Game Boy game has even less.
As a game this will likely be a minor release, good for the kids, but potentially overpriced for what it is. It is significant as the first ‘new’ Felix The Cat media to be released in years. The mind boggles why Dreamworks hasn’t moved forward with making the Felix The Cat movie they have the rights to, as they have already been doing to the Trolls franchise. But maybe this pending release is an indication that they are about to announce something on that front.
