Cloning Clyde [Xbox Live Arcade] [X360]

Cloning Clyde is a straightforward puzzle-platformer that's made from a little Lemmings, a touch of Oddworld, more than a sprinkle of The Incredible Machine, and a half-2D, half-3D graphical style that's all its own. Sure, there's a compromise on challenge and overall length to enjoy Clyde's antics, but given the price and cheerful experience, that works for us.

The game's brief backstory is irrelevant -- suffice it to say that our hero Clyde, together with numerous copies of himself, is stuck in a factory filled with tempting levers, security robots, cloning machines, chickens, and everything else that makes good puzzle games tick. Each level has a number of robots that must be destroyed and a number of Clydes to save. Most puzzles require you to switch between controlling different Clyde clones, coordinating their efforts to flip switches, open doors, or run machines in different parts of the map at once. Oh, and there are chickens to kick, too, and everyone likes to kick chickens.

The aforementioned cloning machines produce extra Clyde copies -- very useful when you need another pair of hands -- but other devices allow you to combine Clyde's DNA with that of other animals. Sheep, frogs, exploding barrels, monkeys: All are fair game for the gene-meld machine, and all yield results that are useful in different situations. Just hop a Clyde on one pad, put a critter on the other, hit a button, and prepare to smile.

Seriously. No matter how jaded you believe yourself to be, the sight of a half-Clyde, half-sheep creature is positively guaranteed to leave you smirking. And while much of the game's humor is in the outstanding animation and sound effects, there's a good amount of it to be found in its clever level design too. Cloning Clyde positively bounces with enthusiastically violent, cartoony wit.