The last time I had played Battle for Bikini Bottom (the original at least) was in 2019. According to my PS2 memory card, I had played this in 2010 prior to 2019. Back then, I never did 100% the game but I did beat it. 2019 though was the first time I 100%ed the game and I remember being so happy I finally did so since this was a game I liked a lot as a kid. I remember thinking it was great back then, but I wanted to see how I'd feel nowadays. While I don't think it's quite as good nowadays, it's still a really fun time overall.

I'd say the thing this game does best is replicating season 1-3 of SpongeBob. It doesn't always hit but when it does, this game is super funny and is basically just like those early seasons. There's a ton of callbacks to the show and references you'd only get if you've seen specific episodes. For a kid growing up on SpongeBob, this is basically like playing through a couple episodes of the show. Every voice actor from the show is here too, besides Mr. Krabs and Mermaid Man, and they don't half ass it. They bring their A game in every scene. However, going back to those two outliers, it's unfortunate they couldn't appear here. Mr. Krabs isn't too terrible, and the voice actor at least sounds like he's trying to replicate the character. Mermaid Man though is totally off and sounds pretty bad, I think. Even with those two being different tho, it's still super authentic to the show and a lot of fun seeing each scene be reminiscent of the show. The game also really replicates the world of SpongeBob well. The overworld of Bikini Bottom is done super well. You have all the main characters homes represented here. You have the Krusty Krab, the Chum Bucket. All the staple locations. The areas themselves also represent the show well. Rock Bottom, the Mermalair, Kelp Forest..even SpongeBob's Dream from that one season 1 episode appears. The characters, their dialogue and the world itself just perfectly represents the early seasons.

Getting into the gameplay itself, it's a collectathon and is basically mimicking a game like Mario 64 or Banjo Kazooie. While I don't think it's as good as either of those, for reasons I'll explain shortly, that type of game still works well in the SpongeBob universe. Instead of Stars or Jiggies, your main collectable in this game are golden spatulas. Thematically super fitting to the show, though I gotta say I never found them as satisfying to get as the aforementioned stars or jiggies. There's no jingle that plays, only a crowd cheering for the player (and SpongeBob's laugh if you're playing as him). It's just sort of a bummer since it never gave me a rush whenever I collected them like Mario 64 or Banjo did. Anyways, you collect these golden spatulas in each level alongside collecting any other assortment of collectables along the way. You have shiny objects which you get from tikis or the robots. These are used to spend on shiny object gates or to get golden spatulas from Mr. Krabs. Socks are a collectable that you can trade in to also get golden spatulas from Patrick. These are mostly easy to get but can be annoying in their placement depending on the stage. Some, mostly the first couple stage ones, require backtracking with abilities you get later on. This like barely happens at all though so if you're a Banjo Tooie hater, you might like this game. In fact, this game is maybe too linear for my liking. It's obviously no Tooie, but it's not even a Mario 64 or Kazooie in terms of its exploration. Very rarely will you travel off the beaten path to do a little side challenge but that's about it. I prefer the more open games I mentioned before for that reason, as it feels like you're being guided along a straight path most of the time. Still, what's here is mostly fun. The levels in general, besides being faithful to the show, are either pretty fun or harmless. The only two I didn't care for much were Mermalair and Kelp Forest. Both had songs that kinda got on my nerves and Kelp Forest is too dark a lot of the time and also has the worst slide in the game. My two favorite levels though, were Flying Dutchman's Graveyard and SpongeBob's Dream. I found neither annoying and they were both endgame levels so they were pretty fleshed out.

You can also play as both Patrick and Sandy, if you find a bus station in each level. They each have different abilities but basically, Patrick is strong and can throw heavy things while Sandy has a lasso she can glide with and can also swing from these lasso Texas things. Both characters change the gameplay up enough for it feel different and fun. Their move sets are simpler than SpongeBob's. His move set consists of a double jump, a bubble wand attack, a bubble butt stomp, a bubble helmet that shoots upwards, the bubble bowl which is a bowling ball you can throw to hit things and the cruise bubble which is this missile attack you can use to hit enemies or buttons from a far. Those last two abilities are ones you unlock as progress and I generally like the move set SpongeBob has. Only thing I wish he had was a movement ability. There's no long jump or talon trot here so he doesn't feel quite as fun to play as because of the lack of something like that.

Between each set of three levels, and also in some of the levels themselves, are the game's bosses. The bosses in the actual levels aren't that great imo but are fun references to the show at least. The main game's bosses you must defeat to proceed tho are actually pretty fun. They're more fleshed out and have cutscenes between phases. You also switch between characters between phases too, which again, changes up the gameplay somewhat. The final boss was definitely the best, it's a fun nod to SpongeBob's love for Karate and also to the anchor arm episode. But I also gotta give props to robot Patrick's fight. The atmosphere of the industrial park combined with the eerie music, always freaked me out a bit as a kid. Still does even now lol.

Speaking of the music, while I don't think it's that amazing overall, there are still some tracks I quite like. Jellyfish Fields is an upbeat classic, Industrial Park again is quite eerie but really good and the best track in the game is probably Flying Dutchman's Graveyard. That one just perfectly fits the level and also rocks on top of it. Like I said, there are some tracks I straight up don't like whether it's cuz the level annoyed me as a kid or I just don't like them in general, however the OST is still solid overall.

I will say, I never noticed how unpolished this game could be at times. Whether it's me clipping through a tiki that doesn't have hit detection, or the slide portions being really janky depending on how I jump, it's not as polished as thought it was back then. Still, this is super helpful to the speedrun community as the game has some well-known glitches and exploits that are actually super cool to see someone perform. I remember getting into these speedrun videos shortly before Rehydrated came out and being amazed I'm just now finding out about all them. Speaking of rehydrated, I'll just say one thing. Play this version, don't play Rehydrated for the love of god. It's so bad, the fucking warp boxes don't even animate.

One more thing I wanna mention before I end the review off, is the golden spatula warp feature. If you go into the menu, to the golden spatulas you've collected or have to collect still, you can take the taxi from the menu and warp to that location. Holy shit, this may be the best feature in this game. It's super convenient and frankly should be in more 3D Platformers lol.

This is a game I played as a kid and while I think it's not quite as good as once thought, and is not as good as Mario 64 (and definitely not as good as Banjo), it's still a fun time. It's not too long either so it's a game you can easily replay. Maybe I'd think lower of this game if I wasn't a SpongeBob fan or grew up with this, as it's just kind of an average 3D platformer, but it's still one of the best licensed games I've played because it represents the world of SpongeBob so well. Glad it holds up even to this day.

This review is about FF1. I had actually started the psp version before I chose to play the gba version, but I dropped it since I found the game to be boring and overall just a slog. Nothing in the game really interested me and I was really annoyed by the encounter rate.

Still, after a while I decided to give the game another chance through a different version, and the game really grew on me. I still didnt really like the intro but after finally figuring out where I was supposed to go on the ship I got the appeal. The game is just really charming, from the varied playstyles you can get from the various party combinations, to the cool little sprites of enemies, to really just how simplistic it is in both its gameplay and its story and world, though I think what really won me over was the bonus dungeons this version introduced, or to be more precise, the bonus bosses in these dungeons.

The actual dungeons themselves were whatever. I actually did some of the bosses way earlier than I was supposed to and it was exhilerating clutching victory from them despite all the odds. Even the later bosses for when I was appropriately leveled still put up a good fight, though this lead me to realize the big problem with this version... its way too easy. The reason the bosses were challenging was because they were balanced around the changes to the stat scaling and spell use system. Aside from the beginning of the game, everything got steamrolled by my party since I didnt need to bother conserving spells or healing items since I had an abundance of mp to get me through the dungeons. Even the warmech/death machine, said to be the hardest encounter in the original versions of the game, fell to me with a couple of turns without ever posing a threat to my party.

I think I'll play the ps1 or nes versions of the game someday, to experience the challenge they offered, since while I still liked the game, it felt like it really shined when I actually needed to think about it beyond "press a to win". Either way, I'm glad it really wasn't the FINAL fantasy like the game's title says lol.

As far as lisa fangames go, this is definitely one of the better ones. If you've played pointless and liked that, its a similar experience to that in a lot of ways. Its also very similar to the Desolate Expantion mod for painful that this dev also made. (which you should check out too! its awesome) I really like that the dev (Redisco) put a lot of his own hand drawn elements in the game, it really makes it stand out from the pack. It's also one of the few Lisa fan games thats actually funny! I think the wackiness of this game feels similar to Painful in great ways.

The game is very clearly inspired by Disco Elysium, and as someone that /loves/ that game, I think Undone can be a bit too similar to it at times. There's also so so so much in this game. Some fans like digging into everything, but for me personally, I think I would've liked less options just overall. I also wish there were just less menus, they pop up before you talk to anyone, getting ur weapon ready, etc etc. It slows down the pacing imo.

All that being said, congrats to redisco and the Undone team! It takes a lot of work to put out a great product like this! I hope they are getting lots of rest lol

While I have never written an in-depth review of the game, I will at some point, Lisa the Painful and its subsequent follow-up-, Lisa the Joyful are simply my favorite games of all time. I have been hooked on the franchise for nearly a decade at this point which has led to me scouring the internet for additional content related to Lisa. This has led me to the slew of fangames made over the series that each individually addresses or adapts specific aspects of the original games and for the most part, are pretty good at capturing that magic. However, these fangames have generated a stigma of being abandoned or having an extremely long turn around so it was such a surprise to see Lisa the Undone release after a little over a year since its original reveal trailer.

This fangame stands out from other titles as it attempts to remake the Lisa the Joyful. As much as I love it, the original Joyful is marred with problems that exist on both a narrative and gameplay level which this fangame initially plans to address. I quickly realized that the structure and story of this game are significantly different from the original making this fangame a complete reimagining rather than a simple remake. This revelation made me especially excited as now I did not know what to expect.

I embraced many of its writing changes with open arms, and I felt I was generously rewarded for doing so. It is clear that the developers are deeply passionate about the world and lore of Lisa with large parts of this game serving to just expand on these elements. There are several moments where your crew takes a breather and you all discuss the current state of things in both the game world as well as how your characters are feeling. This is the sort of downtime time, while existed in Joyful, did not flesh out the characters to the same degree this fangame does. Buddy is no longer a raving maniac right away and Rando is not just a pushover. Elements of these personalities do exist but they are no longer the defining feature of these characters. One of my favorite changes to the writing is where you are given chances to see Buddy act like an actual child with her interacting with other kids being some of my favorite parts of the game.

The expansion of the world in Undone, is another greatly enhanced addition. The world in Joyful felt very cramped and lonely which felt accurate to the game's narrative but I much prefer Undone’s expansive setting that covers many different parts of Olathe. The world feels freeing but also extra dangerous due to your decreased fighting abilities. The expanded setting is also backed up by a slew of different unique areas to explore, really funny encounters, great sprite work, and reworked very interesting encounters. This world expansion also fleshes out each Warlord more giving them more of a build-up as well as explaining how they got into the position that they are in now. A simple cutscene that depicts all of the Warlords gives them so much more characterization that I am extremely excited to see pan out.

Finally, a lot of the writing reflects on the different worldviews one would have within the setting of Lisa. Many times, you are given the chance to talk to a character who will spout off on the current state of things and how one should react to it. While not all super interesting, certain encounters reign as some of my favorite writing in all of the Lisa games. These encounters also deliver solid answers to a lot of questions about the franchise that I have had stewing in my head for nearly a decade now. Some might be turned away from the vast amount of writing the game presents, a stark contrast to previous entries, but I think for any game to have this amount of dialogue it should be for a reimagining of Joyful.

Alongside these writing changes, new gameplay mechanics have been introduced that add extra depth to Lisa’s general gameplay. No longer does Buddy wield mastery over a Katana, instead she is given several weapons that she gains mastery over time through repeated use. This is combined with a new mask system that allows Buddy access to specific skills that relate to the mask that she is wearing. This adds a new consideration as one can plan and set up a specific loadout that would fare better for certain fights. There also exist companion combo moves that allow you to team a party member for some sort of attack or buff. These new mechanics make up for the fact that throughout the whole game, you are much weaker than you ever were in Joyful.

Some interesting new additions include a dice rolling and internal monologue mechanic. Disco Elysium directly inspired these with there being not much difference in how these mechanics are presented. The dice-rolling mechanic is my favorite of the two as it can completely how an encounter plays out and adds another consideration for your loadout as gear can change outcomes. The internal monologue is developed through specific decisions made in the game which will have Buddy’s mind start to splinter off into different ways of thinking. In the game's current state, this mechanic does little to change the narrative in any way and acts more nice flavor text.

If it is not obvious, I was utterly blown away by the quality of this fan project. As it stands this may reign as my favorite fangame for the moment. The amount of care and love put into the game's writing and world-building is palpable leaving me excited as to how the second part of the story will pan out. This is not a perfect experience however as I do think some mechanics are not as quite fleshed out as they should be leaving some parts a little underwhelming, such as being a little deceiving to your contribution towards certain outcomes. Some narrative points are not given a conclusion or a very satisfying one. I also think the balance between actual fights and reading dialogue is a little uneven at the moment. While I do like the game writing I did find myself at points wishing I could get into another encounter soon. All of these problems match the current state of the game as it has just been released and a second part is on the way. I have faith that these issues will be addressed but at the end of the day this is still a very solid video game.

If you are a fan of the original Lisa games like I am, this is a must-play. The amount of added depth to the world and interesting recontextualizations make it worth a try at the very least.

(Fun Fact: I was so excited in the first 40 minutes of this game that I quickly added it to the Backloggd database. I know it doesn’t matter but this is the first time I’ve done this and I just wanted to mention it.)

boneless gta 3

now, this game is not bad by any means. it's quite decent and there is definitely some fun to be had here. in terms of mechanics, LCS improves on 3 in every single way possible (barring crouching not being available). you actually have bikes now, the shooting isnt annoying, the cars handle normally compared to 3's cars which couldnt stay stable for a second.

however, it's a complete downgrade in every other aspect imaginable. somehow, LCS manages to have a less engaging story than 3's fairly simple and barebones story because around 80% of the cutscenes in this game are not motion captured so any sort of impact they could have had is thrown out the window (the final showdown with the main antagonist isnt motion captured lol). toni is a terrible protagonist with awkward voice acting and writing, it genuinely would've been better if he was just silent. the main antagonist is someone we've passed by once or twice in the game and he doesnt even know toni exists, gta 3's main antagonist on the other hand is someone we are familiar with the entire game so it works well. the pacing is awkward and it takes too long for anything interesting to happen. something else that makes this story less engaging is the fact toni is tied to the mafia the entire game, despite the story being more or less moving the same path as gta 3 did (working for a yakuza member, working for donald love, working for a corrupt cop, etc.), it does not work as well as 3 did because claude was a one man army, he wasnt affiliated with anyone and would do anything just to progress giving for interesting missions and ideas we dont see in LCS (i.e. sayonara salvatore and waka-gashira wipeout in 3).

3's radio is one of my personal favorites in gta because of how short the stations were and that gives almost a sense of comfort while playing the game, LCS's was also short but it felt more obnoxious than 3 despite them trying to imitate the same radio sound and a lot of songs were more annoying than nostalgic or good.

the missions were not nearly as chaotic or open ended as 3's were, i would always be excited playing 3's missions despite them getting really hard sometimes because of the chaoticness most missions provided. however this is not present here as a lot of missions rely on gimmicks such as following cars (ugh), just generally forgettable missions.

now, i have criticized this game to hell and the sensible thing to do would be to give it like a 1/5 or something, right?

despite all that i said here, i think there is still quite some fun to be had here with the game as some missions were still fun and the improved mechanics make driving around LC way more fun. i still prefer 3's more darker atmopshere in its city but it's still LC here so i had a lot of fun driving even if a lot of the songs sucked ("sing it back" fucks hard though). decent game that was a serious achievement as it was made for a handheld.

toshiko my beloved.

not as good as IV but it's still good
the concept itself isnt as badly executed as i thought it would be. im not sure if they updated the bikes here or if my version just has something but the bikes control way better than they do in IV and i found myself using the bikes way more than the cars. the missions are nothing special but i was enjoying myself.
the story is an absolute mess however, the pacing is all over the place and every character is way more interesting than johnny himself is, the writing has its funny moments nonetheless but that's to be expected from a gta game.
overall, while the game has a lot of flaws, there is still fun to be had here and the concept itself is interesting, the execution just could've been way better. despite this, i do not see this game being a full fledged game, it just could've been slightly longer to have more impact.

If you're having trouble getting into this, then play The Legend of Zelda Redux. It's a patch that improves the map, subtly clues you in on which walls can be bombed and which bushes can be burned, and fixes the original garbled translation which butchered many of the original hints. All of these make this game much more accessible, but still challenging. It also includes a bunch of small graphical changes, but many of these can be reverted if you want a more vanilla-feeling experience.

Whether or not you're playing the game with that hack, be sure to check the manual that came with the original game, featuring lots of valuable info, here:
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/en/pdf/CLV-P-NAANE.pdf