Micro games. They can be over in a few seconds and often rely on twitch reactions and understanding the objective instantly. Four Second Forever is a micro game collection that harks back to the early 2000s flash gaming era. Each game must be completed in four seconds or you lose a life. Can you survive against the perils of an evil cowboy chinchilla?
Yes, an evil cowboy chinchilla is the main baddie in this game although you’ll need to work hard to make it to the end boss, who’ll fire out four second micro games at you at speed to kill you off. There are 25 micro games with three difficulty levels each. Some games also have some randomised elements to them too ensuring the relatively small collection of games will provide entertainment over multiple runs.
The games themselves are wildly weird. Boop a dog or cat nose. Land an orange on the forehead of a beaver. Type the captura code. Fly the spaceship to avoid asteroids. Remove the extra legs on a donkey. Screw nails in the toy horse. They all have unique controls, although there are several that just require button mashing. The keyboard controls for each game aren’t always explained and that’s a real shame as sometimes you just don’t understand what to do. At least the controls are consistent but it may cost you a life or two.
Lives are replenished when you clear a certain amount of randomised games of a certain difficulty level. The next level of difficulty will add extra things to do. Instead of removing 2 extra donkey legs, you’ll have 3 or 4. Then the hardest difficulty will add more on. Some micro games are inconsistent though such as button mashing games where very little changes. Survive all that and the evil cowboy chinchilla appears. This brings more hardest difficulty games to clear alongside trying to shoot the chinchilla in-between them. Its an apt and silly finale that makes as much sense as the rest of the game.
The main charm is the aesthetic and it lands the silliness well of early flash games. Aside from single player mode, there is a one life mode which I’ll never complete. Missing is the ability to choose micro games to play and enjoy which feels a bit odd. The game is also slightly hamstrung by being single player based only. Side by side battles would have been amazing in splitscreen multiplayer mode but what’s here is fine. This isn’t quite a top tier micro game collection. There are some really good ideas though and that outshines some of the repetitive button mashers. Thankfully Four Second Forever brings an oddball charm and a smile to the face. I’d recommend it for players looking for lightweight chaotic derpy fun in small doses.
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