Alex the Allegator 4 is an addictive singleplayer platform game made by Free Lunch Design in 2003. It puts you in the role of Alex, the angry alligator. 'Why so angry?', you ask. Well, his girlfriend Lola has been kidnapped by humans and Alex fears that she could be turned into a pair of comfy shoes. You won't let that happen, now will you?

Your main goal is to make your way through the jungle in order to find Lola. On your path, you'll encounter enemies which you neutralize in old-fashioned Mario style â?? by jumping on them (left ALT key) and preferably eating them afterwards. Another way is to spit previously collected eggs on them (left CTRL key) in case the space is too narrow for you to jump or the enemies are spiked on their backs. You can collect cherries and stars, too, and if you collect all of them in one level, you'll get 100%. That's not easy, though; and on higher levels, cherries and stars will be harder to reach. In that case you'll have to use some tricks to get to them, such as walking over fans which makes you roll in one direction, thus breaking any obstacles and getting rid of any foes in your way. I'll tell you a secret... if you get 100% in every level, you're in for a BIG surprise... but I won't give you details in order not to spoil all the fun, but believe me, it's worth it!

A great thing that is implemented in this game is that your progress is automatically saved, so when you lose all your lives, you can start over from the level of your choice (of course, up to the level you've last visited). This is very useful because you'll often find yourself frustrated when you drown or get smashed by spiked devices. There are 12 levels in total, of which 6th and the last one are boss levels, and believe me, bosses are well made and challenging to beat (especially the one on the 12th level).

It's obvious from the title that we're dealing with the fourth game in the series of the same name. Considering that, it's important to say that this game is graphically far less attractive than its predecessors, featuring a low resolution and only 4 colors. The point is that its graphics have a sole purpose of revitalizing the old Gameboy feeling, which some will like very much, but others will find disgusting. Regarding appearance, note that the game runs in windowed mode. Sounds are also retro-orientated, very similar to some old classic platformers. That means very easy-going, but also repetitive.

This game comes with a built-in editor in which you can make your own levels and, of course, play them afterwards. That is a very helpful feature that will satisfy all those creative gamers out there. You can also download user-made maps from the producer's web site. What more could you wish for?

Everyone who has played Super Mario on the Gameboy will get a strong déjà vu playing this game, and they'll like it, while others may just avoid it� The choice is yours, but I strongly advise you to try it out�As the producer states: ''It's only a platform game with a few tricks up it's sleeve''. So what's to lose anyway?