Been playing this off and on when perusing the everdrive, and it's pretty novel. Pac-Man with Fantasy Zone's mechanics sewed in: Collect all the coins in the maze while avoiding enemies. The shop system - and by extension, weapons, - have been brought over from FZ, and the collectibles count towards your cash to spend on them. Killing enemies isn't mandatory to get a board clear, but you're encouraged to with how aggressive they become if you keep letting 'em spawn. On the flipside, item prices still permanently increase each time you invest in them, so if you grab items willy-nilly, you'll price yourself out as the levels get harder. It's that push-pull of 'can I beat this maze without using the Invincibility grab?', which makes it all the more beautiful when you optimize your run to perfection, reap huge cash bonuses, and get to spend like it's your last day on earth.

I think my main grievance with this game is the double-edged sword of having dedicated worlds and levels to clear. The fun of something like Pac-Man or Dig Dug is that there's no pressure from the game to complete everything here - you just gotta do the best you can and see how your scores improve. But Fantasy Zone: The Maze has a traditional 3-stage world structure, featuring locales from FZ1, and that puts on the pressure to see and do everything, which makes the end of a premature run feel sour. You can technically jump ahead to the later levels from the start - not dissimilar to Atari era games like Tempest or Black Widow, - but my brain couldn't muster up the energy to spoil the levels for myself. I'll get there when I get there, y'know.

STOP MAKING MEGA MAN

ROBOT MASTERS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE GIVEN REAL JOBS

YEARS OF MEGA MAN ENTRIES yet NO-REAL WORLD USE FOUND for STAR MAN

Wanted a strong and tough robot master for a laugh? We had one for that. It was called "GUTS MAN"

"Yes please give me WAVE MAN. Please give me GRAVITY MAN" - Robot masters dreamed up by the utterly deranged

"Hello I would like to fight Gyro Man please"
They have played us for absolute fools

Why's everyone recommending to play on Super Easy on a first playthrough??? Alien Soldier is excess incarnate! It's the purest form of MDMA in the shape of 2D action! What, all of a sudden you want it to be tame? It's against the very soul of the game! It demands for you to jump into the meat grinder inside its cartridge and come out the other side all mushy, just to hop back into it once again.
Who the hell looks at the two settings "SUPEREASY" or "SUPERHARD" and doesn't instantly get the message!?

A wonderful little romp through some colorful Kirby worlds, with creative level design which avoids repetition often found in 2D platformers. The basic movement is gratifying, and the copy abilities enhance this, even if many are a little bit one-note. The bosses are also well-balanced and decently fleshed out for an NES game.

It's a relaxing game, which I often find myself coming back to for a half-hour here and a half-hour there. It's easy, but that's actually a boon; sometimes, all one wants is a bit of casual button mashing, and this game fills that niche perfectly.