Incredibly charming in just about every possible regard; the music, the visual aesthetic, the various different character and enemy designs, the adorable little jacket you get to wear. The game is also just impeccably paced, throwing new levels, mechanics, weapons and boss designs at you at a good rate over its modest run-time, presenting a regular feed of new, fun content without overstaying its welcome. The weapon upgrades are particularly great for this changing your relationship with how you're playing very meaningfully generally at least once per level.
I was expecting to be done with Kero Blaster after my first playthrough, but the hard mode you unlock upon completing the game is basically a whole new game in itself; all the levels have the same base theme but are otherwise completely redesigned, bosses introduce whole new mechanics compared to their normal mode versions, there's a whole new story that builds upon the normal mode story, and to top it all off there's even a whole new, just outright excellent multi-phase final boss fight.
I've seen some complaints about the lives system in this game where if you die too many times in a level you're sent back to the start of the level, but I think it mostly works as being forced to play the level again will often gather you enough coins for that next weapon or health upgrade you need which can make all the difference in whichever fight you struggled on earlier, and the second run through a level is typically much easier than the first. It's only towards the end of hard mode, especially on the final level, that this lives system starts to get frustrating especially as hard mode largely lives up to its name and the final level of this mode is quite long.
I do wish the story was slightly more comprehensible, it definitely feels like something was lost in translation here, but regardless I appreciate the anti-capitalist sentiments the game presents. I also think the movement is just the tiniest bit too slippery for a few of the more precise platforming challenges towards the end of hard mode. For the most part the game was a true joy, though, and one I may even return to for New Game+ at some point.
I was expecting to be done with Kero Blaster after my first playthrough, but the hard mode you unlock upon completing the game is basically a whole new game in itself; all the levels have the same base theme but are otherwise completely redesigned, bosses introduce whole new mechanics compared to their normal mode versions, there's a whole new story that builds upon the normal mode story, and to top it all off there's even a whole new, just outright excellent multi-phase final boss fight.
I've seen some complaints about the lives system in this game where if you die too many times in a level you're sent back to the start of the level, but I think it mostly works as being forced to play the level again will often gather you enough coins for that next weapon or health upgrade you need which can make all the difference in whichever fight you struggled on earlier, and the second run through a level is typically much easier than the first. It's only towards the end of hard mode, especially on the final level, that this lives system starts to get frustrating especially as hard mode largely lives up to its name and the final level of this mode is quite long.
I do wish the story was slightly more comprehensible, it definitely feels like something was lost in translation here, but regardless I appreciate the anti-capitalist sentiments the game presents. I also think the movement is just the tiniest bit too slippery for a few of the more precise platforming challenges towards the end of hard mode. For the most part the game was a true joy, though, and one I may even return to for New Game+ at some point.