Sackboy: A Big Adventure obviously takes inspiration from Nintendo's Super Mario 3D World, from the level variety to the stickers that you collect at the end of each level. Unfortunately, Sackboy is a game that I found to be a mixed bag of quality.
The jumping mechanics feel underdeveloped and often too shallow to be effective. I would frequently fall short of an enemy I'm trying to hit on the head and end up in the enemy's reach to attack me. Or I would fall into a pit, leading to my death.
This wouldn't be so much of an issue if the game didn't insist on punishing the player twice for dying. The first punishment is losing out on earning the "Ace" level medal, earned by completing a level without losing a life. However, the game will also punish the player by removing 10% of the total orbs that have been collected in the level. If a player was trying to earn the gold medal for collecting a specific number of orbs in a level, and they were to die near the end, a 10% reduction could potentially cost the player that medal, forcing a level restart.
However, there are levels that feel like a lot of thought and creativity has been put in by the developers. When the level design works with the limited jumping mechanics, the game can be a lot of fun. The most memorable levels are the ones that play along to a licenced music track.
I think there’s a lot of potential for the Sackboy franchise. If there’s only one thing I want in a sequel, it would be to make the game as polished as a Mario title. If you’re a PlayStation owner who always wanted to have a 3D platformer like Mario, you'll definitely have a fun time. However, if you’ve played a Mario title released within the last 10 years, you may find Sackboy a bit lacking.
The jumping mechanics feel underdeveloped and often too shallow to be effective. I would frequently fall short of an enemy I'm trying to hit on the head and end up in the enemy's reach to attack me. Or I would fall into a pit, leading to my death.
This wouldn't be so much of an issue if the game didn't insist on punishing the player twice for dying. The first punishment is losing out on earning the "Ace" level medal, earned by completing a level without losing a life. However, the game will also punish the player by removing 10% of the total orbs that have been collected in the level. If a player was trying to earn the gold medal for collecting a specific number of orbs in a level, and they were to die near the end, a 10% reduction could potentially cost the player that medal, forcing a level restart.
However, there are levels that feel like a lot of thought and creativity has been put in by the developers. When the level design works with the limited jumping mechanics, the game can be a lot of fun. The most memorable levels are the ones that play along to a licenced music track.
I think there’s a lot of potential for the Sackboy franchise. If there’s only one thing I want in a sequel, it would be to make the game as polished as a Mario title. If you’re a PlayStation owner who always wanted to have a 3D platformer like Mario, you'll definitely have a fun time. However, if you’ve played a Mario title released within the last 10 years, you may find Sackboy a bit lacking.