A little known platformer released in the twilight of the SNES.
The plot is as follows: Ardy is a rodent-type creature with an appetite for exploring. While exploring in a mine nearby, Ardy and his friend Pec, a small blue ball-shaped thing, find a stone tablet with an inscription on it. Ardy takes it to his friend/girlfriend Nina's home and her father is able to decipher part of it. It mentions how the rainbow has shattered into several coloured gemstones and if someone collects them all they can make a wish. All of a sudden the nearby mining town is attacked. Someone is after the gemstones! Ardy must collect all the gems before the evil Visconti does. Along the way he has to defeat the various guardians of the gemstones and henchmen of Visconti, sometimes being helped by a mysterious benefactor named Don Jacoby.
The graphics are quite nicely drawn, with good character design and nice looking backgrounds, but at the time this was lacking, especially since the graphically superior Donkey Kong Country games had been out for some time. Still, the graphics do their job and always look great.
The sound is also quite good. The music would be fit for any adventure film and helps to add to the atmosphere of each level. The sound FX are a bit poor though, are rarely apparent, and are really nothing special.
The gameplay is spot on. The level design is excellent and the levels themselves are never too long to start dragging on. This allows the story (which has a large presence in the game) to flow evenly. The controls are quite simple and uninspired however, Ardy uses his friend Pec as a weapon, throwing him at the enemies, where he swallows them. Ardy can also jump and mid-jump can use his tail attack. This is his primary attack, which is a tad annoying because sometimes it fails. Other than this, there isn't much else Ardy can do. Despite the lack of innovation the game is still fun to play as it seems to have mastered these basic controls (apart from the occasional jump attack flaw as mentioned).
In regard to lastability, the game is quite easy to begin with and takes a sudden leap into a harder difficulty setting. After this however it doesn't really get over difficult until perhaps the last level (but it IS the last level, after all). If you are a seasoned platform player you will probably find this a piece of cake. For the more casual gamer this may take a while to beat but luckily there are passwords so you don't need start again each time.
Overview
Graphics - Good suitable graphics although maybe a bit poor considering release date.
Sound - Music fits the game very well, but SFX are a bit lacking.
Gameplay - Simple controls that are slightly glitchy. Excellent level design and overall feel of game.
Lastability - Easy for pros, harder for casual gamers.