It's amazing what gems you can find just by whim. Enter Nangoku Shonen Papuwa-kun, a side-scrolling platformer based on a manga that I am definitely checking out as soon I can. Being a licensed game is usually a bad sign, and being by the studio behind Super Back to the Future 2 might be another (I didn't find this out until later, the fact I played this immediately afterwards is pure coincidence). Luckily, this game is a marked sign that Daft Co. learned a lot from their previous effort and then some. Papuwa-kun is secretly one of the Super Famicom's finest hours.
The graphics are just as charming as ever, and this time able to fit within tinier sprites, allowing you to see more of the screen. What's more, the controls aren't just better, they might be some of the best I've felt for the system, on top of some snappy combat, more interesting levels and locales, and more focused enemy placement. Yes, there are some nuggets of frustration, but even at its worst, it's always something you can figure out a solution to after some tries. Even with my habit of using save states, I did actually feel compelled to let myself die naturally and use my newfound knowledge to approach tricky level segments and bosses from scratch.
If there's some things I'd change, there's about one or two segments where the camera doesn't scroll as far up as I'd like it, but these are extremely brief moments. Also, the leveling up system is something I enjoyed - you gain experience from defeating enemies and get more tiers of health with each level. However, I would've liked more ways to take advantage of this such as new moves or stronger stats - if this did happen, I never noticed, as even later on, enemies take three hits at most. Also, this goes without saying, but you're better off having read the manga before going into this or you'll be weirded out (I'm definitely due for a replay... this time with the English patch that I didn't know existed until later).
Ah, whatever. If you're tired of the first-party Nintendo side-scrollers already, you owe it to yourself to give this a whirl. It's a damn small miracle of a platformer, for sure.
The graphics are just as charming as ever, and this time able to fit within tinier sprites, allowing you to see more of the screen. What's more, the controls aren't just better, they might be some of the best I've felt for the system, on top of some snappy combat, more interesting levels and locales, and more focused enemy placement. Yes, there are some nuggets of frustration, but even at its worst, it's always something you can figure out a solution to after some tries. Even with my habit of using save states, I did actually feel compelled to let myself die naturally and use my newfound knowledge to approach tricky level segments and bosses from scratch.
If there's some things I'd change, there's about one or two segments where the camera doesn't scroll as far up as I'd like it, but these are extremely brief moments. Also, the leveling up system is something I enjoyed - you gain experience from defeating enemies and get more tiers of health with each level. However, I would've liked more ways to take advantage of this such as new moves or stronger stats - if this did happen, I never noticed, as even later on, enemies take three hits at most. Also, this goes without saying, but you're better off having read the manga before going into this or you'll be weirded out (I'm definitely due for a replay... this time with the English patch that I didn't know existed until later).
Ah, whatever. If you're tired of the first-party Nintendo side-scrollers already, you owe it to yourself to give this a whirl. It's a damn small miracle of a platformer, for sure.