BIG BAD Flower Review

Everyone likes big monsters, whether it be Godzilla-like beasts or Katamari balls. There's just some kind of macho fascination with giant, indestructible things that are hell-bent on terrorizing the Earth. Flowers, though - flowers are tough. The idea to have a big killer flower has existed, and has been successful, in the past with the Little Shop of Horrors, but game developers tend to stay away altogether.

Without a degree in psychology or any kind of research, I will attempt to accurately predict people's thoughts on flowers. Flowers are soft, pretty, smell good, and are loved by girls (and guys, but the stereotype is that they are primarily liked by girls) all over the world for one reason or another. Because of this, many guys don't want anything to do with flowers in their video games.

BIG BAD Brush sidesteps the gender stereotype by adding BIG and BAD (in caps) to the flower, creating a gender boundary breaking game that is sure to please macho world dominators and little girls alike (not that they can't be one and the same -- Ed.). The game starts with you, a living sunflower that plans on taking over the world. The problem is that every being in the universe wants to stop you.

Each level in the decidedly simple game starts with you, as the big sunflower, at the bottom of the screen with a bunch of things overhead for people or things to appear on. For example, the first levels have the sunflower in a backyard being ravaged by all of nature's little creatures. Birds and squirrels throw things at you, mushrooms grow and cut off your health, and little critters come parachuting down from the sky to attack.

In your arsenal is a single weapon: bubbles. Again, BIG BAD Brush skirts the gender boundary by adding cutesy bubbles as weapons. To use a bubble, you have to draw a circle around the creature that you want to capture. After the creature is captured, you must swipe your finger on the sunflower and it blows the bubble away.

I know, playing as a sunflower that blows all the planetary domination "haters" away sounds like kids stuff, but the artwork is decidedly testosterone injected. The flower looks mean - real mean. So do the military units and giant creatures that come after you in later levels. Even the icon, complete with crazy eyes, looks mean.

Aside from all the flower talk, BIG BAD Flower is an excellent game that thrives off its sense of style. The game is fun, although slightly repetitive after some time, but the total package is a complete win. I would love to see some other attacks available, like a thorny vine arm or even some fire breath, but there's really nothing wrong with the bubble system. If you like fast paced games with a sense of humor, be sure to check out BIG BAD Flower. You won't be disappointed.