You may or may not know that I have a few sisters - three to be precise. Brothers and sisters don't tend to get along; it's on the label in our genes! At times we'll argue about the time and other times we'll argue over less trivial matters. But it will always result in upset, dispute or debate, something that I don't have much time for nowadays. However, those without the blessing of sisters, or brothers, may find some pleasure in Under the Skin, a game that's based on causing trouble and ruining other people's lives! I was enthralled to learn that this game comes from the creators of Viewtiful Joe. But will Under the Skin show the same creative flair and ingenuity of everyone's favourite 2D super hero?

You're a little alien. Your name is Cosmi. You are only three years old! And your mission is to cause mischief. But why? It makes no sense, right? Well apparently, when aliens hit the three years old mark, they must go to other planets and cause commotion, to impress others on you're their home world. If causing trouble impressed my fellow beings, I'd go out and do it right now. Straight out the door, on the bus, laugh at the driver, steal an old lady's Zimmer frame, press the crossing button when I'm not even crossing and go into a pound shop and ask how much things are - these are just a few things I'd do and if you earned respect, money and points for that then I'd be laughing. Fortunately we humans are a little saner than those aliens. [Well maybe, but there are plenty of people who do all the above and far worse… Ed]

So that's basically where the game takes off. But before you do anything, you may want to visit your master for a briefing and a tutorial. Your master is a funny old chap - he's sick and tired of talking, so he uses a puppet and throws his voice to make it look like the puppet's talking. You'll see your master but the puppet does all the chatting, giving you briefings and teaching you all that he knows! From the first five minutes of playing you can tell that this has an authentic Japanese feel, with plenty of humour as well. After your master tells you how to cause mischief you're ready to play on the first level. There are various types of levels, including a wide variety of different missions. Some missions may see you competing against another alien for coins, or collecting a certain amount of coins in a given time - or even beating up the Nemesis from Resident Evil's Raccoon City!

You start off as a disguised alien, masked appropriately depending on what level you choose. For example, if you go to Raccoon City you may start off as a zombie! Now, on most occasions you will start off with five items, which all do different things. These items can range from paper tacks to hula-hoops and mini army tanks to a charging herd of elephants. They are all here to damage the innocent people walking around. You must get into their vicinity and lay traps. When they trigger the trap they get hurt and spill coins, which you need to collect. It's not all about traps though; there are many items you can use just to damage them outright. Why not try the bowling ball and knock the people down like pins? Or get out the bazooka and blast your way though the masses of angry villagers?

When you have used all the items it's a good idea to find another host, or another disguise as they call it. When you are walking past people, their name and item status comes up in a nice little box. If you like what you see you may whip out the old DNA gun and catch them! All you have to do now is run to one of the mini UFOs scattered around the levels and transform. You then take control of the captured person, having access to all their weapons and traps. However, if you accidentally trap somebody you don't want there is no way to get rid of the DNA data. This means you'll have to transform into the person you've just caught, find a new host and find a new UFO, which are constantly moving around the map. This adds frustration to the frantic nature of the game - which I like!

To make things a little harder you compete against other aliens or on the odd occasion co-operate with them; but for the most part you are rivals. Collecting more coins than them is the favourite mission type and each match lasts no longer than 10 minutes, making every second valuable. You are constantly working against the clock as well as your alien opponent.

To add a nice twist to the gameplay, you can get harmed. Each host has chances, so if you get hit twice by an angry person you just shot, or a rival alien, your host dies. This means that your true alien form is exposed and you have a trail of coppers and angry people after you! You must quickly find a UFO and transform into somebody so you can get back on track collecting coins. Getting exposed costs you coins and the coins you spill cannot be reclaimed, whilst the other alien can grab them before they disappear! It's nice to be able to fight somebody that's going to fight back - as well as picking on the hopeless! I like the fact that you are able to make a quick comeback by picking on a fellow alien too!

I really enjoyed playing this simple but addictive game. It really is fast and fun and graphically pleasing too. Collecting new items and discovering what they do is a great aspect of the game and with over 40 to collect and discover you'll be at it for a while! The only downfall is that it's a short-lived game; it took me a mere two hours to finish the story on easy mode. The completion time increases with the difficulty but that hard mode is just too hard! Once you've completed the 8 maps you unlock new modes but they don't take long to finish either and this really damages the replay value. On the plus side though, you and a friend can go head to head on all the maps you've played previously and fight for coins. It's like playing the single player with a friend, which is hilarious, especially if you don't tell them how to play!

Graphically, Under The Skin delivers. There's no slowdown at all and for a fast-paced, cel-shaded, explosion-rich game, I was surprised! All the textures look fantastic and the character designs are superb, with facial animations galore! The level designs are also really good; you can instantly tell what the level is about, even with the over-the-top cartoon effects. Wild Wild West, Raccoon City and a busy town centre are all easily recognisable. I'm sure Under The Skin deserves a place in the top 5 cel-shaded games - it is definitely up there with Zelda: The Wind Waker and Jet Set Radio: Future! [And that's high praise indeed. Ed]

The audio is equally as perky as the cartoon-style graphics. Crazy Japanese rhythms to suit every level and with music running throughout the whole game, I doubt you'll have any complaints here. There are also a lot of great sound effects to be heard too - bowling alley effects for when you knock down zombies and big bangs to compliment every explosion!

Under The Skin is addictive. Sure, it can get repetitive, but then again, with only a few maps to play on, this isn't a problem. Unfortunately the game suffers from lack of content, which is a crying shame; if it was longer or had more modes then I would have been over the moon. But as it is, it feels like a generous demo. However, its fantastic graphics, quirky tunes and addictive gameplay really do warrant a rental and if you feel like you could come back to it in the future then it might be worth a purchase. I am definitely looking forward to a longer sequel!

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).