Rescue: The Beagles follows the adventures of two animal-loving activists out to save some beagles. A plane carrying many beagles to a cosmetics research facility has crash landed in the moutain, spilling its precious cargo everywhere. You have been sent to rescue the beagles before the diabolical researchers can get their hands on the poor pups, and you must navigate the mountains safely on your quest. The story is minimal, but it doesn't really need to be all that complex. It just needs to serve as an explanation for the visuals. After all, the enemies, player, and beagles could be anything and the game would still be the same.

The visuals and audio behind Rescue: The Beagles are great. The visuals have a lo-fi aesthetic that is extremely charming, especially since the character and environment design is strong enough that you know what everything is at a glance. This also means that Rescue: The Beagles can run on just about anything, which makes it a great game for lower-end machines like netbooks. The sounds fit wonderfully and often hilariously. Hearing a vivisector shout out "Doggy!" in a goofy voice is always funny. There are two soundtrack options: AESQE or Disasterpeace. AESQE is a much more sinister (although catchy) soundtrack, while Disasterpeace is more cheerful and action-oriented.

The core gameplay of Rescue: The Beagles takes place along three lanes. Each lane can spawn puppies, items, or enemies. In order to complete a level, you must gather the required number of puppies at the top right. If a puppy is captured, you fall to far, or you touch an enemy, you lose a life and start the level from the beginning (although you keep any puppies you have already grabbed). The game quickly becomes a combination of platforming and action, as the distance you can fall is not explicitly defined and the three different lanes vary quite a bit in their heights. Enemies will also come from all the lanes, which can be confusing as only some of them will damage you if you are on a different lane.

Items are absolutely essential to your survival. There are four possible items that you can acquire throughout the course of the game, and you are rewarded for having extras at the end of a level. The first is the rope, which allows you to climb up any height by double-tapping up. This is especially useful if you are trapped under a cliff or in a spot where you can't get up normally in time to rescue a pup. The second item is the parachute, which saves you from dying on long falls. Like the rope, it is activated by double-tapping the correct direction (in this case, down). Meds are the only item which you can't use directly. Rather, they act as a way for you to earn bonus points whenever you pick up the hurt pups. Each hurt pup you pick up while having a stock of meds will reduce your stock by one and give you 500 extra points. Finally, there's owls. Owls are your only weapon in the game, and do not count towards end-of-level stockpile bonuses. You can fling them at enemies, which will kill them, make them drop any puppies they have, and get you some points depending on which enemy you killed.

Enemies are everywhere in Rescue: The Beagles and act mostly as moving obstacles. However, there are some that are incredibly dangerous. The vivisector grabs puppies and brings them to the far left, which causes you to lose a life. Lipstick globs can't be attacked and kill you no matter which lane you are in if you touch them. Some of the bigger enemies take massive amounts of hits to kill and are quite fast. Still, you will almost never find yourself cursing the lack of ammo, as there are owls everywhere. The only thing that might be tested is your reflexes, not your ability to conserve ammo. Funnily enough, enemies can be completely avoided and you can still finish a level.

Completing a level on its own awards you extra points according to how many items you retained. However, there are some extra bonuses you can get, and these are classified as "flows." The game never actually tells you what flows are, but two in particular leap to mind. The first is placid flow, which means that you do not attack any enemies or lose a life during the level. This is the most valuable flow, and can easily net you extra lives if you go that route. Another is heap flow, which is for never using an activated item (parachute or rope). This requires some good luck as well as good footwork, but pays off with a good amount of points. There are other flows that we have acquired but don't really know how, such as skyline flow, but part of Rescue: The Beagles' longevity is in these different rewarding conducts.

Rescue: The Beagles is a game that is perfect for quick and fun play sessions. If you want some charming, fast-paced action to stave off the occasional bouts of boredom, you can't do much better. It's lightning pace and varied tactics make it a very satisfying game, even if only played for a few minutes. You can download Rescue: The Beagles right here on Big Download. Unfortunately, the developer's site appears to have shut down, so this is also the only place you can get it at. Happy beagle hunting!

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