Anger Foot illustrates a simple idea, executed to the nth degree. As a furious sneakerhead who apparently possesses the deadliest legs in the world, you have to recover your precious stolen shoe collection by kicking everything in sight. The bombast that accompanies this crazy premise (fast-paced action in fractions of a second, satisfying shooting game and delicious destructibility) makes Anger Foot one of the most exciting, challenging and difficult-to-handle adrenaline rushes of the year of a one-kick pony.

In the ruined streets of Crime City, where crime is not only encouraged, but a way of life, you will cross four gangs and their leaders in dozens of levels to recover your stolen sneakers. Initially, your bare foot is your best and only weapon, while kicking blows up the litany of armed thugs and shows off the satisfying (and sometimes hilariously broken) physics of the ragdoll. The frenetic but thoughtful pace of this first-person action game is wonderfully reminiscent of Hotline Miami and Doom. At best, you can complete the small, tight stages in less than a minute, and success means taking out quickly and strategically placed enemies by stealth before you can take them out.

Since only one or two hits finish the players, quick reaction time and, for better or worse, trial and error win the day. Levels can skirt labyrinths, where enemies hide in blind spots or lurk behind doors, and you will not discover their presence until the bullet enters their skull. Some finishs feel inexpensive due to the sometimes questionable location of the enemy, which makes dealing damage in some places seem inevitable. You’re a victim of physics again.; A grenade that misses the first time can bounce off something and unexpectedly land at your feet the second time. Dying means starting the stage all over again, and while that hurts after a good run, instant respawns speed up the process of repeatedly traversing levels and absorbing their designs.

Kicking enemies feels great, but Wutfuß also encourages the strategic use of the environment and your opponents, such as kicking doors towards distant targets or sending explosive enemies running towards your allies. Wielding firearms, such as pistols and shotguns, as well as more exotic dishes, such as crossbows that impale various enemies and flamethrowers, add a complementary aspect at a distance to the melee-oriented action. Gunactions feel great and you can even throw empty weapons to stun targets, providing the perfect setup for a kick. I also enjoy how the different types of enemies encourage me to change tactics on the fly, like shield-wielding enemies blocking shots or fast, knife-wielding mice focused on a relentless swarm. Multi-level boss actions are entertaining (and follish), but not comparable to the thrill of racing through the standard levels.

When Anger Foot is firing on all cylinders, which is usually the case, it’s a blithely chaotic execution of skill and ingenuity. I love to slide in the flow state, run to the rooms, quickly knock out opponents, grab their weapons, throw exhausted firearms to stun other targets and kick everything in sight. An thoughtless approach can work, but more often it pays to have an ideal operating order to eliminate threats and identify any environmental benefits. The destructibility of Copius means that experiences often turn into a parade of explosive debris, splintered wood and broken glass, making rooms look as if a tornado has ripped through them. This element can be beneficial; why would thugs sitting on a scaffold, when firing at an explosive cannon, cause the entire structure to collapse? Although the frame rate occasionally slows down when the action gives way too much to explosions and hostile mobs, otherwise it works like butter.

Anger Foot regularly presents new ideas and mechanics to keep the gameplay and the challenge fresh. Highlights include jumping and dodging trains on a subway and going over rooftops while avoiding a sniper’s laser sight. I have always been looking forward to see what kind of level I had booked and I have often been surprised and excited to tackle all the obstacles that have come my way in life without developers.

Completing optional stages and objectives, such as finishing under a time limit or taking no damage, rewards up to three stars spent on unlocking sneakers to gain skills. You can only wear one pair of these special shoes at a time, and they add funny wrinkles to the action. Some offer useful benefits, such as a shoe that grants an extra life or one that makes the doors explode when kicked. Other shoes work like silly cheat codes, like a pair that reduces gravity, which means that everything, including you, floats. A useful shoe gives enemies comically large heads, making them easier targets for headshots. Shoes can be powerful game changers that provide a strong hook for repeating stages and completing complementary tasks to unlock them all.

Defeat can be a bitter pill to swallow, but I was surprised at how eager I was to bounce back time and time again. Shootouts were still an exciting challenge, even if I had played them several times. Thwarting enemies milliseconds before pulling the trigger, either with brute force or skillfully from my surroundings, never failed to feel good. You should definitely walk a mile in these shoes.