First gave this a whirl in January or so, but because I am stupid I didn't know the game was not autosaving so I just lost all my progress on reopening it. It's a short ass game, so getting back there was like really easy when I actually decided to, but for a while I didn't really have the motivation.

Hylics is incredibly easy, which I definitely welcome with open arms after playing a slew of much harder older games, but it also feels kind of barebones in the gameplay department as well. It has hardly any real story or unique mechanics, but it's also like only 2-3 hours long so I suppose that never really starts grating on you.

The real star of the show here is the presentation, which is completely insane. All throughout it has a surreal, feverish, maybe even sickly feel to it. It walks the line between relaxing and depressing. Every enemy and NPC looks deeply uncanny, the music is half-awake, and a lot of objects and enemies just melt into goo when you interact with them. It's incredibly strange, it kind of carries this game to the moon and back, and I don't think I've seen anything like it really.

I think this is worth a purchase. It's a very short experience, but an even more intriguing one, and I can see it lingering in my head for a solid while. Would definitely recommend if you're looking for something more laid back.

This is okay, actually. Bullshit in places, but like, fine? Maybe I'm missing something. I do have a soft spot for this one for whatever reason, ever since I was a kid (I've also always been very fond of the OST, surprisingly memorable when you consider all Game Gear/Master System stuff sounds nearly the damn same). I'll tell you what does suck though, the Sky High Zone chaos emerald is a fucking meme. The hang glider is a bit notoriously absurd, and while it's far from impossible to use, making it go upwards is indeed. You have to maintain your speed somehow and rely on gusts of wind to make it high enough to reach the emerald, and it's really strange and specific. There's a lot of odd design like that, but most of it I find is more manageable than people make it out to be. Scrambled Egg Zone codifies that annoying tube nonsense that appears in all the later Game Gear games though, so fuck it for that. That one is shit. But all in all, I think this one gets a little more flack than it deserves.

You will eat shit if you play on Game Gear, though. If you have the option to play on a platform with a better screen I would simply do so