My first experience with Glover was initially walking past it at a flea market. It was my primary place to hunt for N64 games as that was the first console I truly began collecting for. At the time, I thought it looked like shovelware so I just ignored it and went to look for something better. Not long after this happened, I got curious and looked up gameplay of the first Atlantis level in the game. Being the 3d platformer connoisseur I am, I regretted not buying it and began looking for the game. A few months pass and I eventually found another copy of the game at the same flea market. I played it, only got past the first world, and never continued from there. I believe I also tried again in 2018 but I couldn't leave the tutorial level for some reason so I stopped once again. Now having finished the game, I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
Glover is definitely a unique concept that sounds genius on paper but it is an idea that doesn't carry over too well once it is implemented in video game form. In each level, you have a bouncy ball that you must have by your side pretty much at all times. The ball can also turn into a bowling ball, a marble, and a gem which are all used for a few clever puzzles. If the ball gets deflated or damaged depending on what form it is in, you lose a life. Because of this, there are plenty of levels where you'll have to be very careful to not lose it or have it fall/get damaged. While there were some fun levels, there were also just as many moments where I found myself getting frustrated with the game due to having to constantly micromanage the ball. Most of the bosses were fine but the Frankenstein's Monster really grinded my gears since it required you to throw the ball up a series of platforms that can be changed by you or the boss at any given time. That & when I played through the broken tutorial again and not being able to leave were the moments where I pretty much came to the conclusion that the game was mid and definitely could have been better.
There were still some aspects of Glover I enjoyed though. The overworld may not be nearly as interesting as Peach's Castle or Spiral Mountain & Grunty's Lair, but I still found some amusement in exploring the initially dark overworld and how it changes later on in the game. The graphics were pretty decent for their time and while most of the worlds mostly had the typical themes you'd find in any other platformer, they managed to still make them look distinct and different enough from the others.
My final opinions on Glover are mixed. It's a unique spin on the 3d platforming genre, but the gimmick that makes it stand out can also be very annoying to deal with on obstacle-heavy levels that can suck the fun out of the game. I'm glad I finally beat Glover but I would also be fine with never revisiting it ever again.
Glover is definitely a unique concept that sounds genius on paper but it is an idea that doesn't carry over too well once it is implemented in video game form. In each level, you have a bouncy ball that you must have by your side pretty much at all times. The ball can also turn into a bowling ball, a marble, and a gem which are all used for a few clever puzzles. If the ball gets deflated or damaged depending on what form it is in, you lose a life. Because of this, there are plenty of levels where you'll have to be very careful to not lose it or have it fall/get damaged. While there were some fun levels, there were also just as many moments where I found myself getting frustrated with the game due to having to constantly micromanage the ball. Most of the bosses were fine but the Frankenstein's Monster really grinded my gears since it required you to throw the ball up a series of platforms that can be changed by you or the boss at any given time. That & when I played through the broken tutorial again and not being able to leave were the moments where I pretty much came to the conclusion that the game was mid and definitely could have been better.
There were still some aspects of Glover I enjoyed though. The overworld may not be nearly as interesting as Peach's Castle or Spiral Mountain & Grunty's Lair, but I still found some amusement in exploring the initially dark overworld and how it changes later on in the game. The graphics were pretty decent for their time and while most of the worlds mostly had the typical themes you'd find in any other platformer, they managed to still make them look distinct and different enough from the others.
My final opinions on Glover are mixed. It's a unique spin on the 3d platforming genre, but the gimmick that makes it stand out can also be very annoying to deal with on obstacle-heavy levels that can suck the fun out of the game. I'm glad I finally beat Glover but I would also be fine with never revisiting it ever again.