What a strange and wonderful way to go, I mean at the end of the world that is. The Wonderful End of the World is probably the most bizarre collecting game I've ever seen in my life. The fully 3D world is...well, collectible. you start out as what I can only call a being of pure energy, though at times you look like popcorn and those dots from Pac-Man, and have to begin to consume or collect everything around you.

But be warned, attempting to eat something bigger than you will not be very productive. Don't you know the old adage, never eat something larger than your head?

You must start out small and work your way up. Each level has a theme be it a library, arcade, cafe, whatever. As such the items you are collecting generally run along the lines of the environment. Your task is to save as much as you can to build a new world before a giant fish head eats the old one. I wonder what kind of drugs they're taking over there, giant world-eating fish heads...

So run through each level, collect as much as you can before time runs out and you get an American style grade (A,B,C,D) at the end. Get a passing grade and other levels open. Plus there's a trophy box where you can get ten trophies for things like, collecting 500 items, 2500 items, passing six of twelve levels, getting the Brontosaurus (yes, there's a Bronto)

Graphics 85%
Are the graphics stupendous? No, but the art style is sort of cool. So cool that you don't even care how many polygons are on screen rotating, spinning or doing whatever it is that polygons are supposed to do when they're on screen. The Wonderful End of the World has a unique art style somewhere between comic books and er...better comic books. There's a lot of flat 2D art in the game a la Scallywag, but there are also fully developed 3D items as well. Some of the graphics are simplistic but the thematic levels are cool and the overall effect is well done.

Sound: 90%
The sound is cool. Hats should definitely be tipped to the composers for the game because the music is great. Upbeat, appropriate and light-hearted, just as the game is meant to be. In this day and age when everything is about bigger and better, the music in this game is large. Meanwhile, the sound effects are on the plain side. Not so plain that I was annoyed and wanted to turn them off but enough for me to relegate them to background noise and forget about them. Really it's a small piece of the game and the music more than makes up for it.

Gameplay: 90%
It's not all fun and games. Well OK it is, but sometimes there are problems. At times you can't tell if you're big enough to eat things and in timed mode than can translate into losing time and a lower grade. Also, you can't tell the difference between things you can walk through and things you will bounce off of, again translating into lost time. As a matter of fact you shouldn't be able to walk through any solid item in my book, but in a game where you have to contact things to consume them, I'll let it slide. You can't, at first, explore the level before you play it. But no worries because it's easy enough to pass each of the levels with a B. Later you can play in timeless or exploration modes, after you have passed all the other levels that is. There is one level you can't open until you have an A in all the others which must be the end of the world.

Controls: 95%
The controls are cool. Actually I even used the Xbox 360 controller to play the game and preferred that to the mouse and keyboard. The controls are simple, use the stick to move. Yes, that's it. Well it's the end of the world you know and they didn't want you to waste time figuring out some seriously complicated controls so they made it quick and simple, but it works for this game and it works extremely well. I like it and I'm sure you will as well. The only thing I can say is a jump would have been nice, but once you're big enough you just walk over the obstacle or collect it.

Summary: 90%

So the final grade? B+/A- in my book. The game is fun although repetitive after some time. But what the hell, the end of the world was never so fun and I think that before the world does end you should head over to Dejobaan and pull down the demo. Hell for $19.95 I can see this coming out to a dollar an hour of strange, off-beat fun. It definitely makes me want to see what else Dejobaan can come up with.

The Wonderful End of the World is full of unique levels, fun gameplay and easy controls. You might just find yourself going back again and again to save all your stuff before it's too late.

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