Alex the Allegator 4

Alex the Allegator (sic) is a very simple, very classic sidescroller. Bounce on enemies to defeat them, pick up fruit and stars and powerups, all the usual tropes we've been trained since the 8-bit days to expect, in a nice, smooth-playing package. The look is somewhat GameBoy-like, as the developer has limited himself to a four-color palette; the controls, too, would map easily onto a NES controller.

Nothing hugely exciting, in other words, but a pleasant and somewhat nostalgic way to kill some time. I have only one beef about it: the jump key is left-Alt, the "spit" key (an alternative attack) is left-Ctrl, and it's damnably easy to to hit the intervening left-Windows key, popping up the launch menu and halting the game. But the game pauses whenever you do, so while frustrating, it doesn't hurt you.