Freeing Pip's friends in Pip's Rescue, Games by Zaweba
Pip's Rescue in Games by Zaweba is a 16-bit platformer: hop, swim and ride balloons through a mazy zoo, throw snowballs and free four caged friends.
Pip is a little round bird with four caged friends to free, and a mazy zoo stands in the way. In Pip's Rescue you hop, swim and ride balloons through each enclosure to reach a cage and open it. It's a 16-bit platformer in the style of a 16-bit home computer, on the Retro arcade shelf of Games by Zaweba, and its friendly look makes it one of the more welcoming games on the shelf for younger players.
How Pip moves
Left and Right, or A and D, move Pip. Space, Up or X jumps, and in water the same keys swim up. Down dives. Z or Ctrl throws a snowball. There's quite a lot there, so it's worth spending the first enclosure just trying everything out.
Snowballs and zoo creatures
Pip's snowballs are short range, so you need to be fairly close to hit anything. Monkeys, bats and piranhas are the creatures to deal with, and they go down to your snowballs. The gorilla keeper is tougher and needs three hits.
Short range means you have to choose when to approach. Getting close enough to throw also puts you close enough to be hit, so it pays to throw as soon as you're in range rather than edging nearer.
Balloons and pools
Some ledges are high up, and rising balloons are the way to reach them. Hop onto one and ride it up. Timing matters here: catch the balloon as it rises and jump off when you reach the height you need.
There are pools to swim through too. Pip swims slowly, so give yourself time. Jump keys swim up, Down dives, and piranhas lurk in the water, so keep a snowball ready.
Hearts and flags
Pip has three hearts per life, so a single knock isn't the end. Flags are checkpoints, and passing one means you'll come back there if things go wrong. Between the hearts and the flags, the game is forgiving enough to learn as you go, which is part of what makes it suit beginners.
Freeing all four
Each enclosure ends with a cage to open, and opening it frees a friend. Free all four friends to win. The zoo is mazy, so finding the way to each cage is part of the challenge, and a route that looks blocked may open up with a balloon ride or a swim.
Pausing and keeping score
Esc pauses, F11 makes the zoo fill the screen, and the title card and F1 explain the controls. Games by Zaweba keeps your best score, plays and wins on your PC, so freeing all four friends is something you'll see recorded. For a family PC it's a good one to start younger players on, with no adverts and nothing online.
If Pip's Rescue goes down well, Castle Knight and Zippy the Armadillo on the same shelf are other platform games with their own heroes. Here, throw snowballs as soon as you're in range, ride the balloons for the high ledges, and use the flags as your safety net.
