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Wario Ware on the Gameboy Advance brought about a new concept in gaming. Games with no instructions, no depth and no defined goal. This was achieved by throwing the player into mini-game after mini-game with no idea of what they were doing.

Well Hot Pixel is based firmly on that concept. We have 200+ mini-games broken up into 10 themed episodes, each one finishing with a boss battle.

oozes the pick up and play mentality that handhelds need.

Each mini-game is introduced with a short, normally bizarre, video featuring some kind of urban nerd followed with a brief cryptic, instruction. Once in, you will need to work out what to do and then do it all in the time limit! They are all played differently, with various control schemes. For instance, one will have you playing an asteroids style game using X to thrust and the stick to steer. The next will have you pressing the shoulder buttons to shake leaves from a tree.

The inspiration for the games is drawn from a vast variety of sources, including Atari's own back catalogue. But Hot Pixel is a game of variable quality. Some of the games are really fun and you can't wait for them to turn up again. Others will have you wanting to tie weights to your PSP and chuck it in the ocean. On the one hand you get little snippets of classics like Battlezone and Breakout, on the other you get horrible dodge the black blocks or turn off the TV games.

Each completed episode opens up some kind of bonus. The Boss battles are unlocked to be played as standalone games, which is great as some of them are really very good. You also unlock things like the play list. This allows you to group together games and play them in the order you want. This is a nice way to get some practice so you can go for the Perfect scores in each episode.

Another really good feature is the addition of downloadable content. Atari have produce http://www.hotpxl.com/. From here you can download new mini-games. At present there are 70 available! This gives some serious longevity potential to Hot Pixel.

Overall Hot Pixel is a mixed bag. The general idea is nice, if a little unoriginal. It is also good to see someone taking on Wario Ware. Admittedly it lacks the charm that Wario Ware has, but it is still an enjoyable waste of a few minutes in your day. For the most part the presentation is good, although the little videos of the urban nerd get really irritating after a while!
This kind of game oozes the pick up and play mentality that handhelds need and even though there are a few stinkers in there it is ultimately a fun little game!

It is a bit like Marmite, you will either love it or hate it.