Video Game / Felix the Cat

The evil Professor has kidnapped Kitty Cat and taken her far, far away! He wants the incredible Magic Bag of Tricks from Felix. If Felix can't rescue his girlfriend, who knows what the Professor will do?
Luckily, Felix still has the Magic Bag. You must use the awesome powers of the Magic Bag to their fullest if you want to rescue Kitty.

—The manual, summing up the game's entire story.

Felix the Cat is a 1992 video game based on the classic cartoon series Felix the Cat (specifically, the Joe Oriolo incarnation of the series), developed by Hudson Soft and released for the NES and Game Boy.

The gameplay is a typical sidescrolling platformer in the vein of Super Mario Bros.. Felix has to travel through nine different worlds, fighting hordes of enemies and several bosses with the help of his Magic Bag of Tricks, all to rescue his girlfriend Kitty Kat from his archenemy, The Professor. Gameplay wise, Felix has a power-up system that he can stack to help him out—he starts off with a boxing glove in his Magic Bag of Tricks, but he can upgrade his attacks into a Magic Wand, a Car, and a Tank, with the only handicap being a time limit on each power up (which can be replenished by finding milk bottles) and losing a power-up with each hit.

The Game Boy version, which was released in 1993, is almost identical to the NES version gameplay wise, but it has fewer levels, simplified level layouts, and obviously inferior graphics and sound due to the lack of color, smaller screen and inferior hardware. An unauthorized Sega Genesis port of the NES version was developed in Russia, said port being infamous for its unexpectedly gorey Game Over screen.

The game was rereleased for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on March 28 by Konami due to Hudson Soft being long defunct.

Not to be confused with Fix-It Felix Jr., nor with Dragon Co's unlicensed 1998 NES Game Felix the Cat by Dragon Co..

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The NES and Gameboy versions of this game includes:

• Abnormal Ammo: In the boss fight with him, Professor's only attacks are ramming you with his flying saucer or shooting diamonds at you.
• Adaptational Villainy: In the original game, Poindexter, who is usually on good terms with Felix in the TV cartoons, is fought as a boss twice in this game. However, in the 2024 re-release, Professor replaces Poindexter on the game.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • Master Cylinder, who was a much greater threat in the TV cartoons than Professor, is now working for him in this game, and is fought as a boss twice. He's barely as big as Felix in-game and has a ridiculously simplistic attack pattern. If you use the plane power-up against him, the fight is turned into a complete joke, since he goes down in a few hits. In the second fight, he uses bubbles instead of lasers to attack. That said, if you fight him without power-ups, he becomes the hardest boss in the game.
  • The Magic Bag of Tricks also goes through this. In the Joe Oriolo cartoons, it was an outright Story-Breaker Power that could turn into or create anything and could get Felix out of any situation. The NES game significantly nerfs its powers to where it can only do four different attacks, three of which need power ups and have a time limit, and occasionally turn into vehicles in certain contexts (i.e. canoes, a plane, a spaceship). Understandably, it would be impossible to properly transition the Bag's limitless abilities into a video game, and giving the bag limits ensures that the gameplay still has challenge.
• Anti-Frustration Features: In World 5 of the Game Boy game, Felix's spaceship doesn't have the power-up time limit like it did in World 8 of the NES game, which makes the level much easier.
• Attract Mode: Leave the title screen running in the NES version, and you'll get an early preview of the gameplay and music that's missing some of the notes. Averted in the Game Boy version, which does not have one.
• Boring, but Practical:
  • Felix's default attack is a boxing glove on a spring that launches from his bag. Its short ranged and does minimal damage, but it gets the job done.
  • The first power-up, the Magic Wand, doesn't have the range or damage of the Car or Tank power ups, but its attack goes out in all 8 directions and can be rapidly spammed, making it a very helpful item.
• Boss-Arena Idiocy: The lab where you fight Professor in his spaceship has three Magic Bag warps, which allow Felix to quickly stack up power-ups and fight Professor in the tank, making the fight a breeze.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • Kitty Kat appears in this game, which is strange considered she was Adapted Out of the Joe Oriolo Felix cartoons.
  • Gulpo, The King of the Blobs, a oneshot villain for the episode "Felix Babysits", returns for a boss fight in the fourth world.
• The Cameo: Vavoom makes a cameo appearance behind the E in Felix's name on the title screen, but he does not appear in the game proper.
• Catching Some Z's: When you pause the game, the HUD shows Felix's face sleeping with some Zs in a speech balloon. Felix also falls asleep and snores Zs if you leave him idle in a level where he's riding a canoe.
• Collision Damage: Any contact with enemies that isn't an attack will rob Felix of a power-up, or straight up kill him if he so much as bumps into them—and Felix can't Goomba Stomp enemies either.
• Comic-Book Adaptation: Felix the Cat Video Wizard, a oneshot comic made as a tie-in to the game.
• Compressed Adaptation: The Game Boy version of the game only has 11 of the console games 23 levels; it removes worlds 5, 6, and 7, and reduces each world to just two acts instead of three (sans the space shooter level, which was always one level to begin with).
• Cool Boat: In 4-3, Felix can pilot a torpedo firing submarine shaped like his head when he grabs enough power-ups.
• Cool Plane: In 2-1, 3-3 and 5-3, Felix can fly in an airplane and shoot projectiles if he gets a power-up while using the hot air balloon.
• Cool Starship: In world 8 of the NES game (world 5 in the Game Boy version), Felix's bag turns into a slick one-seater spaceship that can fire lasers and has complete freedom of movement. The only downside is that it has a limit to how long it can be used without collecting milk bottles (in the NES game, anyway—it has no such weakness in the Game Boy version), and one hit makes it keel over.
• Cut Scene: In the opening and every few levels in the NES version, Felix stops by his house and gets a threatening phone call from Professor. The Game Boy version doesn't have them.
• Damsel in Distress: Kitty Kat, Felix's girlfriend, is kidnapped by the Professor.
• Death Mountain: World 3 is set high up in a mountain region full of bottomless pits and enemies.
• Denial of Diagonal Attack: Played with. Felix's default boxing glove attack can only fire left or right. The Magic Wand allows Felix to attack in all eight directions. The Car reverts back to using left or right attacks. The Tank, oddly enough, can only fire diagonally in an arc.
• Difficult, but Awesome: The Tank power-up has a slow rate of fire and shoots its balls in an arc that is hard to aim (compare this to the short range but rapid firing and multi-directional Magic Wand), but the tradeoff is that it kills any enemy in one hit and makes quick work of boss fights.
• Easy Level Trick: 2-1 can be effortlessly beaten by just staying as close to the bottom of the level as possible, since there are very few enemies or obstacles down there. The same trick works for 5-2. You can do it through a big chunk of 3-3 by both either up or above the level, but you'll still be forced to descend or ascend into the areas where enemies and cannons are at in several parts.
• Evil Doppelgänger: The boss of world 5 in the NES version is an evil copycat of Felix toting a hat and gun. He isn't given a name or explanation for where he came from—not even the manual mentions him.
• Excuse Plot: The entire plot is that Professor has kidnapped Kitty Kat, and Felix has to save her.
• Extendo Boxing Glove: This is Felix's default attack, which pops out of his Magic Bag of Tricks.
• Floating Platforms: Many platforms in this game hang mid-air. Some platforms move back and forth.
• Friend to All Living Things: In water based levels, the ever genial Felix gets the option to ride friendly dolphins and turtles, who are a big help to him.
• Green Hill Zone: The first world, which is set in a typical plain, grassy landscape.
• Hitbox Dissonance:
  • Felix's hitbox in the NES version is smaller than some of the sprites he has (such as the canoe), meaning you can graze things like the Felix icons without collecting them.
  • In the Game Boy version, the hitboxes of the items are much larger than the actual items, making it so that you grab them even if you don't actually touch them. The enemies, in contrast, have very small hitboxes, making it so that you can graze them without getting harmed.
• Jump Physics: Felix's jump pretty much controls the same as Mario, but he doesn't gain or lose any momentum.
• Levels Take Flight: 2-1, 3-3 and 5-3 are levels where Felix can float around with an umbrella, and upgrade to a hot air balloon and airplane.
• One-Hit-Point Wonder: Felix in his default level will die in one hit from touching any enemy or obstacle. In World 8, he can't upgrade his spaceship (but can still get 1-ups from collecting Felix icons), leaving him with just one hit point for the level.
• Out of Continues: The game just instantly sends you back to the title screen after running out of continues it does show you the game over screen, but two to three seconds in, (in the NES version) it just suddenly fades out then fades back to the title screen.
• Palmtree Panic: World 4 is set in a tropical area.
• Prehistoria: World 5 is set in a prehistoric environment, complete with small dinosaurs appearing.
• Press Start to Game Over: In 1-2 and 1-3, you can die simply from moving right as soon as you start the level (unless you have a power-up on hand) or from walking into a pit as soon as you respawn at the levels checkpoint.
• Power-Up Food: Felix can collect milk bottles to refill his power-ups.
• Slippy-Slidey Ice World: World 6 and 7 are both set in an arctic region, but are distinct in that both areas only have two acts in them (as opposed to three like the rest of the worlds) to keep them from feeling drawn out, and have different variations on their ice themes—world 6 is water themed, while 7 is a standard platforming world.
• Solid Clouds: Moving clouds can be walked on.
• Springs, Springs Everywhere: Springboards make appearances throughout the game but are most common in bonus areas.
• Stock Animal Diet: Felix, being a cat, drinks milk bottles to replenish the timer on his power ups.
• Super Not-Drowning Skills: In this game, Felix can stay underwater for as long as he likes. He will die if he falls into water in certain levels, but that's only because they basically serve as Bottomless Pits.
• Tank Goodness: Among the power-ups Felix can get is the ability to ride a mini-tank, which can shot giant balls in an arc that kill any non-boss enemy in one hit.
• Temple of Doom: 2-2 and 2-3 are set inside of an Egyptian Pyramid full of enemies. 9-3 is inexplicably set in one despite being on the moon.
• Unexpected Shmup Level: World 8 is a one act level set in space that has Felix fly a spaceship that can shoot at UFOs and asteroids.
• Unstable Equilibrium: Normally, Felix's power-ups give a hit point for each upgrade, but falling down a bottomless pit sends you back to square one. Fortunately, it's not hard to stack up your power-ups again.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Master Cylinder in 3-3 is a very tricky fight for such an early boss if you fight him without power-ups, mainly because of your wonky flight physics making it easy to collide into him combined with the fact that attacking him means putting yourself directly in his line of fire. His attack pattern is very predictable though, so with practice it becomes manageable.
• Warmup Boss: Poindexter, the boss of the first world. He moves very slow and his only attack is launching a ball in an arc that is extremely easy to avoid. Even if Felix doesn't have any power-ups, you can mop the floor with him in seconds. The Game Boy version makes him even easier to fight due to how slowly he moves and how little he'll actually fire his attack.
• Weapons-Grade Vocabulary:
  • Felix's car power-up uses its horn honks (symbolized by the word "BO") as its attack.
  • During his boss fight, Gulpo sometimes shouts the word BLOB! at you, which can hurt if it connects.
• A Winner Is You: Your reward for beating Professor? You get to see Felix free the tied-up Kitty Kat, and get the message "Congratulations! At last FELIX! You rescued Kitty!" and Kitty saying "I love you, Felix!" and seeing Felix fly Kitty back home as THE END pops up—you don't even get to see any credits, and pressing start sends you back to the title screen. The Game Boy version is even worse—Felix just walks right up to Kitty, and the game cuts to a bland THE END screen that you can't exit out of.
• Wizard Needs Food Badly: In world 8, Felix's flying saucer uses the power meter constantly, so it drains throughout the entire level and will kill Felix if it drains completely, so you have to grab the Felix icons to get milk bottles or power-ups to refill your health. This feature was removed for the Game Boy equivalent of the level (world 5).
• When Trees Attack: In the first world, you face tiny walking trees that spit at you and take more hits to kill.

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