KiddieMan
2004
I wasn't very impressed with Half-Life, but I was eager to check out its sequel. And let me tell you... this game is a GIGANTIC step up from the predecessor. There's pretty much no BS from the first game, the level design is thoughtful, and at times, clever. The gameplay in general is engaging, with a mix of great gunplay with a decent selection of weapons to play with, and some light puzzle elements, and a good mechanical variety, like the Squad mechanic towards the end, or vehicle parts. The game's biggest feature is its physics. The objects react in a somewhat realistic way, I like how you can use some objects such as explosive barrels against enemies, but the enemies themselves can use their surroundings against you. And, of course, there's a Gravity Gun that amplifies the use of object physics, allowing to throw objects with a greater force against enemies and draw the objects towards Gordon. It's not overpowered however, as there aren't always heavy objects around or it's not always convinient to use, and I have to say that the weapon balance is ace, I used every weapon acquired throughout the game. The game features locations that are far more memorable and varied than the first game (like Ravenholm and how it's a legitimately creepy area, a dark and hostile territory you don't want to be in). The story is solid too, I can understand the appeal of the minimalist storytelling of the first game, but I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with the presentation, aside from the fact that you don't get to the action as quick. The characters are well animated, and the voice acting is good. Lastly, the ladders aren't jank! This is a game that I can actually see being called a masterpiece. While I had my moments of frustration, they weren't really the game's fault, but mostly me being dumb or my fatigue. I can see this game getting better on repeat playthroughs, I mean this is true for most games, but still. If you didn't like Half-Life the first (which is a minority it seems), I highly recommend Half-Life 2. Heck, I can recommend this game to anyone. It's simply a quality game.
I'm kind of surprised I enjoyed Deus Ex as much as I did. I wasn't too keen on stealth mechanics in the tutorial, but they're well integrated to the rest of the game. One big positive about this game is that many situations can be approached in different ways. You can try to play this like any regular First Person Shooter, but JC is a fairly squishy character. Play smart, not hard. All of this is complimented by intriguing plot, the many side objectives and role play opportunities, and an awesome soundtrack that includes some ambiant and techno music. Of course, it's not perfect. The close and personal melee combat never felt like it registered hits correctly, it seems like you can only hit an enemy when you're looking at them and only at specific frame of animations, and due to the hectic nature, that results in a lot of missed swings. It has some compatibility issues with modern PCs, so I had to patch it up. I noticed incorrect texture culling in certain areas, when they disappear to save on memory, a pretty common technique in games usually to unload areas or objects behind the player, but these textures disappeared from plain sight. Lastly, this Game of the Year Edition has a big problem. It uses older versions of the maps, that are buggier or missing some details. Of course, since this is the only version I've played, I don't know the differences, but I have no idea how that even happened. Still though, Deus Ex holds up remarkably well with its engaging gameplay, story, and replay value. It's definitely worthy of all the high praise it received.
If you want an example of a clearly lazy and cheap cash grab licensed game, look no further than The Lion King for the NES, released incredibly late in the life span of that system, in fact it is THE last official game to be released for that system. And it's a very sour note to end the console's life on. This version is actually a port of the Game Boy version, which wasn't that good to begin with, but this version is even worse! The graphics don't take advantage of NES's color capabilities, the backgrounds still use one and the same color palette. The sprites, or at least some of them, look even smaller than they were in the Game Boy version, and it's not just because of the system's larger resolution. They really did shrink down Simba's sprites! Not to mention how they chopped half of the levels from that version, you can't play as adult Simba. The music is bad, the gameplay blows, and the graphics are subpar. When the bootleg version of The Lion King is actually better than the official product, that's saying something.
Whether Star Wars: Dark Forces is a clone of Doom or not is completely irrelevant in this review. In fact I won’t mention Doom a single time. In any case, for this review I did 4 playthroughs of this game. First, I played original DOS version on Easy, then I played The Force Engine source port on Medium, then Playstation version on Easy, and for the last one, I played DOS original on Hard.
Star Wars: Dark Forces is a first-person shooter from the 90s. You shoot your way through storm troopers and other unpleasantries, but it’s not a simple “get to the goal” affair, the objectives in each level are different, like getting Death Star plans in the first level, then getting to the rooftop to the space ship, or putting detonative charges in a few others. Shooting the enemies is satisfying enough, blast your enemies or shoot/throw explosives at them and strafe to dodge the incoming shots, which is especially vital on harder difficulties, since the aggression and their number increases. You have two types of health, shield that can soak energy blasts and can max out at 200, and standard health, with a max of 100, that can be damaged by physical contacts, regardless of shield, or from other attacks when that is depleted. The arsenal is gradually expanded by acquiring new guns or other weapons, such as Thermal Detonators (which are like bombs) and a Jeron Fusion Cutter which looks like a musical instument. The ammo is plentiful, so you’re unlikely to run out… unless you play on hard difficulty, since I was more proactive in dodging and shooting and I was using Stormtrooper Laser Rifle in first few levels, which is fast but not super accurate or powerful, and consumes 2 energy units per shot (though I thought it used 1 ammo until I finally noticed that on my PS1 playthrough. I guess ammo really wasn’t a concern up until that point). Even then, by the IVth mission, I had enough to get by. The selection of weapons is decent enough, I used all of them in all of my playthroughs, though obviously some more than others, for instance I saved a plasma based weapon that looks like a butterfly wing (it’s not listed in the manual for some reason, so I don’t know its name, it’s mapped to 0 key) for the toughest foes like the titular dark forces or the final boss.
Aside from weapons, there are also items that have a passive effect. From the start of the game you have a flashlight that can eliminate dark areas, but you can obtain infrared goggles that give a sort of night vision, allowing to see in the dark. There's a gas mask which really is only needed in one level and I never used it ever again. Lastly, there are Ice Cleats that remove icy physics, again only found and useful in one level. Aside from shooting, there’s also secrets to uncover, a staple of first person shooters like this, containing goodies. There are more traditional bonuses you can find, aside from usual ammo there are a few power-ups, such as Shield Supercharge, which makes your shield infinite for a short time, making you invulnerable to most damage, Weapon Supercharge which makes your weapons shoot twice as fast, revive which maxes out health & shield, and lastly 1-ups. There are lives in this game like in the good ol’ Wolfenstein 3D. I only ever lost all of them once on my initial playthrough, and all it did was send me back to the previous state I’ve been in before entering the mission. I don’t know if the punishment is more severe on harder difficulties (like losing all gear), as I’ve been conservative with my lives, particularly on hard difficulty where I only allowed myself to lose a single life per mission (2 in particularly stinky ones), though most of the time I just quit the mission, which doesn’t save your life count, which can be abused.
The enemies are eager to tear you apart, and this game contains what is probably the most inaccurate depiction of Storm Troopers. They should miss 99% of the time! But seriously, the enemies can blast you as soon as you open a door for instance, which does feel a little unfair at times. Besides the level of aggression, higher difficulties also place more enemies in levels. If you thought fisting 2 dragons in Mission X: Jabba’s Ship is bad enough how about… four? Although I did find an exploit so you can fight one dragon without alerting the other at the very beginning, but still, that’s at least 3 dragons to down. There are a few occasions where it seems like there are “infinite” enemies, particularly in mission VIII: Fuel Station, where Stormtroopers appear in corridors seemingly out of nowhere, or in a big circular area with a spinning bridge, the enemies appear at the entrances even though there’s no way for them to just appear in there. I find it odd but not game breaking. IMO the most dangerous enemies, besides Dark Troopers, are Thandoshans, with their Concussion Rifle. I still don't really know how the gun works, but it basically shoots an invisible bullet that'll burst once it hits an obstacle. They're particularly nasty on hard difficulty, where they're harder to take out and damage you a fair bit. The aformentioned Dark Troopers are a threat, which is nice. The ground ones will deflect most of your shots, I found throwing explosives at them the most efficient way to take them out. The flying ones are even more dangerous, they shoot at you with aformentioned butterfly wing gun's projectiles that hit very hard and can shoot a missile. Strafing around and dodging their shots is kind of fun, if you have enough space to strafe in that is.
One innovation this game brings is the ability to look up and down (although technically Heretic did it earlier (if you want to be even more technical, CyClones did it even earlier)). In DOS version, by default, it’s mapped Page Up and Page Down keys, which is a little unwieldy, as I have to move my hand from mouse to these buttons to look where I want. Thankfully, there aren’t many places where looking up or down is necessary, and the game automatically aims at the enemies that are below or above, though changing your vertical look can increase accuracy. You can also crouch, which is used to fit into tight areas, which is used quite a bit throughout the game. In general, the game features greater emphasis on verticality compared to other games from the time. That also brings in the ability to jump, and the game features a fair bit of platforming. It’s not too bad, and I rarely missed a jump even with lower framerate which means there’s little delay, but you still have to be wary of falling off if you don’t time your jump right.
The gameplay is honestly pretty decent… if you aren’t getting lost, which isn’t all too uncommon in this game, with its labyrinthine design. It actually made me drop the game a couple times on my first playthrough, because wandering around figuring out where to go isn’t very fun. The first roadblock is Mission III: Anoat City, where you have to go through sewage tunnels and activate switches until you figure out the correct path to the destination. Mission VI: Detention Center is a multilayered tower with some walls that can be cracked with explosives, tunnels and stuff. The path forward isn’t obvious on the first playthrough, though after you figure out the way forward, it becomes routine (the way forward I found is through some ventilation, which seems to be the safest one, there must be some other way in though). However, getting stuck and confused isn’t your only concern. Some stages feature ceiling turrets that hit hard. There are also mines, while a mild annoyance on easy, they become a more frequent problem on harder difficulties. Part of it is because of their poor placement, at times they’re buried in bonues, or around the corners, or even right next to the door you’re opening, resulting in a surprising blow to your face. The best example I can list is Mission X: Jabba’s Ship, they’re almost everywhere, and as annoying as ever. Why won't they explode other enemies? We can trip our own mine, why can't they? Besides walking close to them and backing away, you can chuck explosives at them to detonate, which is a safer strat. Their placement often ends up being cheap and unfair.
Lets move onto the game’s visuals and music, where the differences between 3 different platforms are the most apparent. The original DOS and PS1 versions run at a low resolution, with further objects being the most pixelated. DOS original does feature graphical settings to increase fidelity, at the cost of the framerate. I actually lowered them to get some frames for Hard difficulty, because I felt the FPS did hinder my ability to play the game. Mind you, I don’t really care for framerates or resolution as long as the game is playable and they don’t impede my enjoyability. Given that Star Wars: Dark Forces is a pretty old game, it can’t be helped. With that being said however, I think the graphics are honestly solid, low resolution be damned. The textures are quite nice and fairly detailed, there are even neat little details, like “EWOKS SUCK!” or “PWR CELLS” in Mission VII: Ramseed Hed or someplace else, which I find kind of cute. The level geometry is nice as well, like the canyon divide gradually expands at one point, starting with a small crack in Mission IV: Research Facility, and there are rotating, moving and spinning objects in giant ship levels and other places, not only look good and make these levels more alive, but also can hide a switch that can be activated with a timed shot. The actual polygonal models like a spaceship or turrets on the other hand look primitive, the geometry isn’t very complex and the textures are lacking on some surfaces. Not to say they look bad, but they contrast with what is otherwise a solid presentation. Of course, having a big 2D spaceship would look a bit out of place. While they look basic, they’re technically impressive, at least I would assume so, I haven’t played many 90s games that feature 3D models. For cutscenes, the game uses some FMVs, as well as 2D animated cutscenes reminiscent of LucasArts’ own point and click adventure games, and the voice acting is decent. The music takes cues from some of the films’ music, and I can’t help but think that it lacks its own identity. The music isn’t particularly memorable, aside from bits that sound like classic Star Wars music. That’s not to say it’s bad, the music tracks are fitting to the levels they’re used. One credit I can give to its implementation is that its dynamic, though not in PS1 version. The music can change to battle music if the situation gets hairy, and the transition is seamless. The music is MIDI, The Force Engine makes use of uncompressed instruments, while PS1 version seems to use fully uncompressed music. It sounds great, though there are moments where the music ends and there’s silence for a few seconds before it can play again. The sound effects are quite good however.
DOS version runs at a fairly low framerate. Now, you could argue that DOS version DOES run at 60FPS, or at least it can. And I agree, it CAN run at 60. This is a difference between the game’s distribution sites and DosBox configurations. The GOG version sets its cycle count to max, meaning it can run at 60FPS. The Steam version, which is what I played, caps cycles at 20000, which is fairly low, resulting in lowered framerate. Of course, I could’ve just set that to unlimited and play the super smooth experience. But I’m a purist like that, if the publishers set it to 20000, then they must think it should provide a good experience. Anyway, moving to PS1 version’s performance, it’s not very good. The PS1 definitely has potential, if I look at a wall, the game actually runs at 60. If the game was adapted to use PS1’s 3D capabilities, then I’m sure it would’ve made for a better time. Unfortunately, they didn’t. At times it actually runs worse than the DOS version. That is on top of PS1’s unwieldy controls, I actually dreaded playing PS1 version, the aiming isn’t precise enough and you have to hold a trigger to strafe or look up and down. Of course, The Force Engine mitigates most of the issues of the base game, you can play at a higher resolution, making the picture look sharp, and at a high framerate, and you can look with a mouse both vertically and horizontally, and other goodies like mod support. If you want to play this game, the stock DOS version is fine enough, but I can highly recommend checking out The Force Engine for the quality of life improvements. Unsurprisingly, I don’t recommend the PS1 version. PC supremacy wins! I think The Force Engine shows the potential for an official remaster, in the same vein as System Shock: Enhanced Edition or Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour. While I doubt the level design would get changed or fixed, the sharper visuals and increased framerate do make for a more enjoyable experience.
Overall, Star Wars: Dark Forces is a fine enough first person shooter on its own, and it does bring some innovations and technical achievements to the table, but it’s not perfect. The level design can be confusing and the placement of mines and hazards can be an annoyance, which age it a bit. The game isn’t bad enough for me to not play it 4 times though… well, that includes PS1 version which isn’t very good, but y’know what I mean. If you’re a fan of Star Wars and/or old First Person Shooters, I can recommend this game, but be warned of its dated design.
Star Wars: Dark Forces is a first-person shooter from the 90s. You shoot your way through storm troopers and other unpleasantries, but it’s not a simple “get to the goal” affair, the objectives in each level are different, like getting Death Star plans in the first level, then getting to the rooftop to the space ship, or putting detonative charges in a few others. Shooting the enemies is satisfying enough, blast your enemies or shoot/throw explosives at them and strafe to dodge the incoming shots, which is especially vital on harder difficulties, since the aggression and their number increases. You have two types of health, shield that can soak energy blasts and can max out at 200, and standard health, with a max of 100, that can be damaged by physical contacts, regardless of shield, or from other attacks when that is depleted. The arsenal is gradually expanded by acquiring new guns or other weapons, such as Thermal Detonators (which are like bombs) and a Jeron Fusion Cutter which looks like a musical instument. The ammo is plentiful, so you’re unlikely to run out… unless you play on hard difficulty, since I was more proactive in dodging and shooting and I was using Stormtrooper Laser Rifle in first few levels, which is fast but not super accurate or powerful, and consumes 2 energy units per shot (though I thought it used 1 ammo until I finally noticed that on my PS1 playthrough. I guess ammo really wasn’t a concern up until that point). Even then, by the IVth mission, I had enough to get by. The selection of weapons is decent enough, I used all of them in all of my playthroughs, though obviously some more than others, for instance I saved a plasma based weapon that looks like a butterfly wing (it’s not listed in the manual for some reason, so I don’t know its name, it’s mapped to 0 key) for the toughest foes like the titular dark forces or the final boss.
Aside from weapons, there are also items that have a passive effect. From the start of the game you have a flashlight that can eliminate dark areas, but you can obtain infrared goggles that give a sort of night vision, allowing to see in the dark. There's a gas mask which really is only needed in one level and I never used it ever again. Lastly, there are Ice Cleats that remove icy physics, again only found and useful in one level. Aside from shooting, there’s also secrets to uncover, a staple of first person shooters like this, containing goodies. There are more traditional bonuses you can find, aside from usual ammo there are a few power-ups, such as Shield Supercharge, which makes your shield infinite for a short time, making you invulnerable to most damage, Weapon Supercharge which makes your weapons shoot twice as fast, revive which maxes out health & shield, and lastly 1-ups. There are lives in this game like in the good ol’ Wolfenstein 3D. I only ever lost all of them once on my initial playthrough, and all it did was send me back to the previous state I’ve been in before entering the mission. I don’t know if the punishment is more severe on harder difficulties (like losing all gear), as I’ve been conservative with my lives, particularly on hard difficulty where I only allowed myself to lose a single life per mission (2 in particularly stinky ones), though most of the time I just quit the mission, which doesn’t save your life count, which can be abused.
The enemies are eager to tear you apart, and this game contains what is probably the most inaccurate depiction of Storm Troopers. They should miss 99% of the time! But seriously, the enemies can blast you as soon as you open a door for instance, which does feel a little unfair at times. Besides the level of aggression, higher difficulties also place more enemies in levels. If you thought fisting 2 dragons in Mission X: Jabba’s Ship is bad enough how about… four? Although I did find an exploit so you can fight one dragon without alerting the other at the very beginning, but still, that’s at least 3 dragons to down. There are a few occasions where it seems like there are “infinite” enemies, particularly in mission VIII: Fuel Station, where Stormtroopers appear in corridors seemingly out of nowhere, or in a big circular area with a spinning bridge, the enemies appear at the entrances even though there’s no way for them to just appear in there. I find it odd but not game breaking. IMO the most dangerous enemies, besides Dark Troopers, are Thandoshans, with their Concussion Rifle. I still don't really know how the gun works, but it basically shoots an invisible bullet that'll burst once it hits an obstacle. They're particularly nasty on hard difficulty, where they're harder to take out and damage you a fair bit. The aformentioned Dark Troopers are a threat, which is nice. The ground ones will deflect most of your shots, I found throwing explosives at them the most efficient way to take them out. The flying ones are even more dangerous, they shoot at you with aformentioned butterfly wing gun's projectiles that hit very hard and can shoot a missile. Strafing around and dodging their shots is kind of fun, if you have enough space to strafe in that is.
One innovation this game brings is the ability to look up and down (although technically Heretic did it earlier (if you want to be even more technical, CyClones did it even earlier)). In DOS version, by default, it’s mapped Page Up and Page Down keys, which is a little unwieldy, as I have to move my hand from mouse to these buttons to look where I want. Thankfully, there aren’t many places where looking up or down is necessary, and the game automatically aims at the enemies that are below or above, though changing your vertical look can increase accuracy. You can also crouch, which is used to fit into tight areas, which is used quite a bit throughout the game. In general, the game features greater emphasis on verticality compared to other games from the time. That also brings in the ability to jump, and the game features a fair bit of platforming. It’s not too bad, and I rarely missed a jump even with lower framerate which means there’s little delay, but you still have to be wary of falling off if you don’t time your jump right.
The gameplay is honestly pretty decent… if you aren’t getting lost, which isn’t all too uncommon in this game, with its labyrinthine design. It actually made me drop the game a couple times on my first playthrough, because wandering around figuring out where to go isn’t very fun. The first roadblock is Mission III: Anoat City, where you have to go through sewage tunnels and activate switches until you figure out the correct path to the destination. Mission VI: Detention Center is a multilayered tower with some walls that can be cracked with explosives, tunnels and stuff. The path forward isn’t obvious on the first playthrough, though after you figure out the way forward, it becomes routine (the way forward I found is through some ventilation, which seems to be the safest one, there must be some other way in though). However, getting stuck and confused isn’t your only concern. Some stages feature ceiling turrets that hit hard. There are also mines, while a mild annoyance on easy, they become a more frequent problem on harder difficulties. Part of it is because of their poor placement, at times they’re buried in bonues, or around the corners, or even right next to the door you’re opening, resulting in a surprising blow to your face. The best example I can list is Mission X: Jabba’s Ship, they’re almost everywhere, and as annoying as ever. Why won't they explode other enemies? We can trip our own mine, why can't they? Besides walking close to them and backing away, you can chuck explosives at them to detonate, which is a safer strat. Their placement often ends up being cheap and unfair.
Lets move onto the game’s visuals and music, where the differences between 3 different platforms are the most apparent. The original DOS and PS1 versions run at a low resolution, with further objects being the most pixelated. DOS original does feature graphical settings to increase fidelity, at the cost of the framerate. I actually lowered them to get some frames for Hard difficulty, because I felt the FPS did hinder my ability to play the game. Mind you, I don’t really care for framerates or resolution as long as the game is playable and they don’t impede my enjoyability. Given that Star Wars: Dark Forces is a pretty old game, it can’t be helped. With that being said however, I think the graphics are honestly solid, low resolution be damned. The textures are quite nice and fairly detailed, there are even neat little details, like “EWOKS SUCK!” or “PWR CELLS” in Mission VII: Ramseed Hed or someplace else, which I find kind of cute. The level geometry is nice as well, like the canyon divide gradually expands at one point, starting with a small crack in Mission IV: Research Facility, and there are rotating, moving and spinning objects in giant ship levels and other places, not only look good and make these levels more alive, but also can hide a switch that can be activated with a timed shot. The actual polygonal models like a spaceship or turrets on the other hand look primitive, the geometry isn’t very complex and the textures are lacking on some surfaces. Not to say they look bad, but they contrast with what is otherwise a solid presentation. Of course, having a big 2D spaceship would look a bit out of place. While they look basic, they’re technically impressive, at least I would assume so, I haven’t played many 90s games that feature 3D models. For cutscenes, the game uses some FMVs, as well as 2D animated cutscenes reminiscent of LucasArts’ own point and click adventure games, and the voice acting is decent. The music takes cues from some of the films’ music, and I can’t help but think that it lacks its own identity. The music isn’t particularly memorable, aside from bits that sound like classic Star Wars music. That’s not to say it’s bad, the music tracks are fitting to the levels they’re used. One credit I can give to its implementation is that its dynamic, though not in PS1 version. The music can change to battle music if the situation gets hairy, and the transition is seamless. The music is MIDI, The Force Engine makes use of uncompressed instruments, while PS1 version seems to use fully uncompressed music. It sounds great, though there are moments where the music ends and there’s silence for a few seconds before it can play again. The sound effects are quite good however.
DOS version runs at a fairly low framerate. Now, you could argue that DOS version DOES run at 60FPS, or at least it can. And I agree, it CAN run at 60. This is a difference between the game’s distribution sites and DosBox configurations. The GOG version sets its cycle count to max, meaning it can run at 60FPS. The Steam version, which is what I played, caps cycles at 20000, which is fairly low, resulting in lowered framerate. Of course, I could’ve just set that to unlimited and play the super smooth experience. But I’m a purist like that, if the publishers set it to 20000, then they must think it should provide a good experience. Anyway, moving to PS1 version’s performance, it’s not very good. The PS1 definitely has potential, if I look at a wall, the game actually runs at 60. If the game was adapted to use PS1’s 3D capabilities, then I’m sure it would’ve made for a better time. Unfortunately, they didn’t. At times it actually runs worse than the DOS version. That is on top of PS1’s unwieldy controls, I actually dreaded playing PS1 version, the aiming isn’t precise enough and you have to hold a trigger to strafe or look up and down. Of course, The Force Engine mitigates most of the issues of the base game, you can play at a higher resolution, making the picture look sharp, and at a high framerate, and you can look with a mouse both vertically and horizontally, and other goodies like mod support. If you want to play this game, the stock DOS version is fine enough, but I can highly recommend checking out The Force Engine for the quality of life improvements. Unsurprisingly, I don’t recommend the PS1 version. PC supremacy wins! I think The Force Engine shows the potential for an official remaster, in the same vein as System Shock: Enhanced Edition or Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour. While I doubt the level design would get changed or fixed, the sharper visuals and increased framerate do make for a more enjoyable experience.
Overall, Star Wars: Dark Forces is a fine enough first person shooter on its own, and it does bring some innovations and technical achievements to the table, but it’s not perfect. The level design can be confusing and the placement of mines and hazards can be an annoyance, which age it a bit. The game isn’t bad enough for me to not play it 4 times though… well, that includes PS1 version which isn’t very good, but y’know what I mean. If you’re a fan of Star Wars and/or old First Person Shooters, I can recommend this game, but be warned of its dated design.
Despicable Me: The Game: Minion Mayhem is a surprisingly solid licensed game. Or maybe not surprising, since it’s developed by Wayforward. The only licensed game I played that was developed by them was DuckTales Remastered (which is one of my all-time favorite games), though I heard Wendy: Every Witch Way is pretty good. This is one of those games that makes me want to delve a little deeper into their library of licensed games and uncover more hidden gems. Despicable Me: The Game: Minion Mayhem is a puzzle game, which is probably not what you’d expect, considering it’s a game about Minions. I may be biased, because I haven’t played a good puzzle game in a while, but that’s how I felt about this game, I thought it’s solid.
The game plays similarly to Lemmings, though if I had to make my own comparison, it’d be Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, a game I actually played. The goal is to get a chief minion to collect a required item, then lead them to the exit. Aside from the chief minion, there are other supporting minions with unique abilities, such as sumo minions that can defeat enemies. Only chief minion is required to get to the exit, though getting others in time will grant more score. You can’t control the minions directly, instead you have to manipulate the environment around them to succeed, like activating platforms or ladders. The level and the timer only begin when you tap on one of the minions, so you can check the surroundings and plan your course of action. There are extra collectibles, such as coins, a plushie or Gru token, that can unlock extra levels, as well as being a necessity if you’re aiming for completion, as your performance will be graded with a medal or whatever that’s supposed to be, with the highest being gold “minion of the month”. The levels themselves are actually pretty challenging, again, you probably wouldn’t expect that because MINIONS. But that was when the first movie came out and that movie is generally viewed positively. The game keeps introducing new mechanics until the very end, which is nice.
That’s not to say the game is flawless however. I don’t really like how the game doesn’t explain a new mechanic on the spot. The game features “How to play” section, but to access that, you have to quit the level and level selection. I think utilizing clever level design, or making “How to play” accessible at all times would’ve been nice. Then there’s Gru’s House levels. These levels feature “despicable” gimmicks, such as rotating playing area to make it distracting. That’s not too bad, because the solution should remain the same. However, there’s another gimmick which I actually dislike - falling bombs. You need to tap them to detonate, and their drop feels random, sometimes dropping right before chief minion, failing the level, which is frustrating. You need to multitask minions’ actions and bombs which can feel overwhelming. There’s only one required level with this gimmick, but it’s still pretty annoying.
Graphically, I think this game is about average. The backgrounds and foregrounds are decent enough, and the minions seem to use pre-rendered 3D sprites. Notice how when you boot the game, it mentions a Woody Woodpecker license? I thought what kind of crossover is that? Turns out there are posters of him in Girls’ Room extra levels, which is neat. The music on the other hand is very good, it’s by none other than Jake Kaufman, of Shantae and DuckTales Remastered fame. I recommend checking out this game’s OST.
Still, I enjoyed this game well enough, and I may be compelled to revisit and master the game, as there are a couple of locked items in the main menu, so there might be some cool extras. Overall, a pretty solid puzzle game. If you don’t mind Minions… existing, you may find this to be a good time. It may not be wholly original, but the gameplay is good enough and most importantly, fun.
The game plays similarly to Lemmings, though if I had to make my own comparison, it’d be Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, a game I actually played. The goal is to get a chief minion to collect a required item, then lead them to the exit. Aside from the chief minion, there are other supporting minions with unique abilities, such as sumo minions that can defeat enemies. Only chief minion is required to get to the exit, though getting others in time will grant more score. You can’t control the minions directly, instead you have to manipulate the environment around them to succeed, like activating platforms or ladders. The level and the timer only begin when you tap on one of the minions, so you can check the surroundings and plan your course of action. There are extra collectibles, such as coins, a plushie or Gru token, that can unlock extra levels, as well as being a necessity if you’re aiming for completion, as your performance will be graded with a medal or whatever that’s supposed to be, with the highest being gold “minion of the month”. The levels themselves are actually pretty challenging, again, you probably wouldn’t expect that because MINIONS. But that was when the first movie came out and that movie is generally viewed positively. The game keeps introducing new mechanics until the very end, which is nice.
That’s not to say the game is flawless however. I don’t really like how the game doesn’t explain a new mechanic on the spot. The game features “How to play” section, but to access that, you have to quit the level and level selection. I think utilizing clever level design, or making “How to play” accessible at all times would’ve been nice. Then there’s Gru’s House levels. These levels feature “despicable” gimmicks, such as rotating playing area to make it distracting. That’s not too bad, because the solution should remain the same. However, there’s another gimmick which I actually dislike - falling bombs. You need to tap them to detonate, and their drop feels random, sometimes dropping right before chief minion, failing the level, which is frustrating. You need to multitask minions’ actions and bombs which can feel overwhelming. There’s only one required level with this gimmick, but it’s still pretty annoying.
Graphically, I think this game is about average. The backgrounds and foregrounds are decent enough, and the minions seem to use pre-rendered 3D sprites. Notice how when you boot the game, it mentions a Woody Woodpecker license? I thought what kind of crossover is that? Turns out there are posters of him in Girls’ Room extra levels, which is neat. The music on the other hand is very good, it’s by none other than Jake Kaufman, of Shantae and DuckTales Remastered fame. I recommend checking out this game’s OST.
Still, I enjoyed this game well enough, and I may be compelled to revisit and master the game, as there are a couple of locked items in the main menu, so there might be some cool extras. Overall, a pretty solid puzzle game. If you don’t mind Minions… existing, you may find this to be a good time. It may not be wholly original, but the gameplay is good enough and most importantly, fun.
2001
Moomin's Tale for Game Boy Color is another game that varies my intake of licensed games, this time it's based on a property originating from Finland. It’s a platformer with some variety.
The player controls Moomin (Moomintroll) through various stories, like retrieving a handkerchief or watching a solar eclipse. The game is mostly a standard platformer, left, right, jump and stuff. The goal differs between levels. The first level introduces question spheres that give a fruit that can restore health, certain ones give a speed boost, like lemons and apples, and the green ones can expand the health bar. The fruit also acts as continues during boss battles. Anyway, collecting spheres is required for progression you have these mini-levels that are a couple screens long, and the game throws more challenging gauntlets where you have to learn patterns and avoid hazards. In my opinion, these challenges are the most fun you can find in this game. These challenges return in level 3 with more tricky hazard avoidance. That’s not always the case, in some instances you only need to reach the right side of the screen to progress. There are also top down segments in the mountains, though these act as sort of mazes or hubs, where you can enter caves in which you have to reach another entrance to progress. For some reason, you can jump in top down perspective, but there’s nothing to jump over.
The platforming varies from good to decent, but not everything is perfect. Mainly, the boss battles are inconsistent and mostly suck. The first boss you’ll encounter is a mantis, and you can repeatedly bounce on its head, lacking in any sort of challenge, even for a first boss. Although technically it’s a mid-boss, because the first world doesn’t end there. At the end, you’ll find a pleasant surprise, in a form of a button mashing mini-game to climb up a tree. You have to alternate mash between B and A. In that order, mashing starting from A doesn’t work, I learned that the failure way. There’s no midboss in level 2, but instead a rock chase at the end. The screen crunch is real, as the rock takes half of the tiny Game Boy Color’s screen, and there are a few instances where you can get stuck because you’re supposed to jump from a slightly higher platform to the next one that is further offscreen, without seeing it of course. Although I guess you can memorize the layout while coming here, but how are you supposed to do that on the first playthrough? The third level introduces an identical mantis from the first level, only now you can’t jump on it while its performing an attack, even though the animation is the same. This just feels lazy and cheap, though it’s not difficult to get into a rhythm of jumping, waiting, then jumping again on the enemy if you learn the pattern. Of course it’s a mid-boss once again, the real boss is collecting flying notes. Once again, trial and error rears its ugly head, as the notes can fly high or low, and missing any reduces your health quite a bit. I’m not going to go into detail on every boss, so lets jump straight to the last boss battle, level 5, a dragon. This boss is pure garbage. It’s attacks are random, and there’s wind, so if you get hit, you’ll be knocked back far away. And if you game over here, you’ll have to go through some cave levels, fight an eagle (which isn’t a very good boss either), then have to go through more caves to reach to have a chance against this RNGfest. This is where I used savestates, because having to redo lengthy portions of the game because of the boss that isn’t fun in the slightest is so frustrating. The game actually gets easier after this encounter, as there’s a relatively short level 6 with no boss battle at the end, and an interesting gimmick to boot, making said level actually decently enjoyable. Basically, the main issues I have with the bosses are either lack of consistency or alternate play styles that aren’t much fun.
Graphically, the game is pretty good. The animations are plentiful, the backgrounds are detailed, and there’s occasional parallax scrolling or animated background. I also like a small detail when the game is paused, the game turns black and white, reminiscent of the original Game Boy color scheme. When Moomin takes damage, he falls on his back side, and gives you a disappointed look, some enemies actually react, and it’s not just visual, when in this state you’ll be invulnerable until you get back up by a press of the button, which means you can wait until a hazard passes by. I kinda like this approach. Sound-wise, the music is decent, I like boss fight theme for example, though some other tracks are pretty repetitive, particularly in top-down mountain areas or in some cave levels.
In closing, I think this would’ve been a decent, or even good game if it had focused more on little ?-sphere collecting challenges featured in levels 1 and 3, aI can’t stress enough how fun these are, the platforming mechanics are decent, the patterns are consistent and fun to learn. Which is unlike bosses, which don’t feel as polished or consistent, as well as other occasional trial and error moment. They really do drag the game down a bit. It’s still an ok game, and better than most other Game Boy Color licensed games I’ve played, but I feel there was potential for a great hidden gem.
The player controls Moomin (Moomintroll) through various stories, like retrieving a handkerchief or watching a solar eclipse. The game is mostly a standard platformer, left, right, jump and stuff. The goal differs between levels. The first level introduces question spheres that give a fruit that can restore health, certain ones give a speed boost, like lemons and apples, and the green ones can expand the health bar. The fruit also acts as continues during boss battles. Anyway, collecting spheres is required for progression you have these mini-levels that are a couple screens long, and the game throws more challenging gauntlets where you have to learn patterns and avoid hazards. In my opinion, these challenges are the most fun you can find in this game. These challenges return in level 3 with more tricky hazard avoidance. That’s not always the case, in some instances you only need to reach the right side of the screen to progress. There are also top down segments in the mountains, though these act as sort of mazes or hubs, where you can enter caves in which you have to reach another entrance to progress. For some reason, you can jump in top down perspective, but there’s nothing to jump over.
The platforming varies from good to decent, but not everything is perfect. Mainly, the boss battles are inconsistent and mostly suck. The first boss you’ll encounter is a mantis, and you can repeatedly bounce on its head, lacking in any sort of challenge, even for a first boss. Although technically it’s a mid-boss, because the first world doesn’t end there. At the end, you’ll find a pleasant surprise, in a form of a button mashing mini-game to climb up a tree. You have to alternate mash between B and A. In that order, mashing starting from A doesn’t work, I learned that the failure way. There’s no midboss in level 2, but instead a rock chase at the end. The screen crunch is real, as the rock takes half of the tiny Game Boy Color’s screen, and there are a few instances where you can get stuck because you’re supposed to jump from a slightly higher platform to the next one that is further offscreen, without seeing it of course. Although I guess you can memorize the layout while coming here, but how are you supposed to do that on the first playthrough? The third level introduces an identical mantis from the first level, only now you can’t jump on it while its performing an attack, even though the animation is the same. This just feels lazy and cheap, though it’s not difficult to get into a rhythm of jumping, waiting, then jumping again on the enemy if you learn the pattern. Of course it’s a mid-boss once again, the real boss is collecting flying notes. Once again, trial and error rears its ugly head, as the notes can fly high or low, and missing any reduces your health quite a bit. I’m not going to go into detail on every boss, so lets jump straight to the last boss battle, level 5, a dragon. This boss is pure garbage. It’s attacks are random, and there’s wind, so if you get hit, you’ll be knocked back far away. And if you game over here, you’ll have to go through some cave levels, fight an eagle (which isn’t a very good boss either), then have to go through more caves to reach to have a chance against this RNGfest. This is where I used savestates, because having to redo lengthy portions of the game because of the boss that isn’t fun in the slightest is so frustrating. The game actually gets easier after this encounter, as there’s a relatively short level 6 with no boss battle at the end, and an interesting gimmick to boot, making said level actually decently enjoyable. Basically, the main issues I have with the bosses are either lack of consistency or alternate play styles that aren’t much fun.
Graphically, the game is pretty good. The animations are plentiful, the backgrounds are detailed, and there’s occasional parallax scrolling or animated background. I also like a small detail when the game is paused, the game turns black and white, reminiscent of the original Game Boy color scheme. When Moomin takes damage, he falls on his back side, and gives you a disappointed look, some enemies actually react, and it’s not just visual, when in this state you’ll be invulnerable until you get back up by a press of the button, which means you can wait until a hazard passes by. I kinda like this approach. Sound-wise, the music is decent, I like boss fight theme for example, though some other tracks are pretty repetitive, particularly in top-down mountain areas or in some cave levels.
In closing, I think this would’ve been a decent, or even good game if it had focused more on little ?-sphere collecting challenges featured in levels 1 and 3, aI can’t stress enough how fun these are, the platforming mechanics are decent, the patterns are consistent and fun to learn. Which is unlike bosses, which don’t feel as polished or consistent, as well as other occasional trial and error moment. They really do drag the game down a bit. It’s still an ok game, and better than most other Game Boy Color licensed games I’ve played, but I feel there was potential for a great hidden gem.
2013
The most fun I've had with a TT's LEGO game so far. A sizeable map that is fun to explore, though the story nudges you along, so you can only truly explore it at your leisure after the game has been beaten. Still, there's a decent variety of stuff to do and great places to visit. The story is pretty good, the humor is also surprisingly good, there are some dumb kiddie jokes, but there are also plenty of clever moments that got a chuckle out of me. Some music tracks are great, but others tend to become repetitive, particularly in story levels, and the graphics are great. I did play the enhanced rerelease for multiple platforms, so I can't comment on how good it looked or performed on Wii U, but on PC, it looks great. The only issue, is some lengthy loading times, especially when launching the game the first time. There's still a decent amount of TTs LEGO games for me to play, but overall, so far I'd call this the best one.
2005
What are your expectations from Winx Club for Game Boy Advance? Is it a hidden pile of trash or a hidden diamond? The answer is DRUM RO-it's bad. Winx Club is an unimpressive top down action game.
You control Bloom in a story that follows the first season of the animated series. You can jump which is useful in certain areas like climbing up a ledge or jumping over some obstacle, but it feels more like a scripted event because there’s no skill involved in using this action, there's no pits to fall off or anything. You can also shoot projectiles to defeat the enemies, and said enemies are pretty annoying to deal with. The combat is not that great to begin with, you can’t strafe so you either shoot and move towards the enemy or just hope you’re facing the enemy when standing still. You can also use a shield cloak ability but I honestly didn’t find a use for it in actual combat. Lastly, you can charge your attack for a few seconds, making a more powerful torrent of fire, however when performing this action, you’re a sitting duck, and the enemies can just move out of the way, limiting it’s usefulness. The bosses are all pretty pathetic and don’t display any intelligent behavior. You can easily exploit them by making them run into a wall in a back and forth dance. They won’t try to run along the wall, they’ll continue running into a wall, then back away a little, then run back into it, making them very easy to pick off. During boss battles, you can summon Bloom’s friends to aid in battle once a special meter has been filled, but they’re made redundant thanks to the tasty cheese.
When you’re out of the first level in the park, you’re transported to Alfea, which will act as a main hub of the game, and where you’ll have to do a few tasks before moving onto the next level, and you can also take on a few side quests to find key items in different levels, though these are optional. This area reveals another issue I have with the game – the movement speed is atrocious. There’s no way to run, so you’re stuck slowly walking to your destination. On the bright side, the game does tell you your next objective by bringing a menu via Select and moving to the objectives tab with L/R, though I wish I found this earlier because I did end up wandering aimlessly which contributed to my frustration with the movement speed.
Aside from combat and fetch questing, the game also features some very basic stealth segments. Just don’t touch the enemy’s scan area and you’re golden. As you can imagine, they aren’t much fun. In fact, the only part I thought had any semblance of fun was one part in Ice Caverns, towards the end where you have to solve a few riddles, in my opinion this is the only section in the entire game that required some skill to get through, which is logical thinking. There are extra collectibles you can find in the game, fireflies that upgrade your abilities, usually you’ll find them by shaking bushes and, oddly enough, barrels, though not every single one contains those items and the procedure of checking every single object isn’t that fun. The game does make an audible cue when you’re near something interactable, be it an NPC or said object, so you don’t have to mash a button for everything in the game, this isn’t like a traditional RPG like Final Fantasy VI or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone GBC, where you can find goodies by mashing a button in every corner you can think of. Aside from fireflies, there are low-res photos that can be found or awarded for special occasions.
Graphically, the game is a mixed bag. The human characters feature large heads and small bodies, but they don’t look all that great if I’m being honest, they aren’t cure chibis, that’s for sure, and there are some characters that have normal proportions, making them stand out, in this example, Knut, the yellow guy to the right looks fine. The backgrounds on the other hand are pretty decent, Alfea itself gives me The Legend of Zelda vibes, and other areas don’t look too bad either. The game also features animated clips from the cartoon, and they’re as low quality as you’d expect, a potato put into microwave put into fridge type of quality. The music is also average, there are few memorable tunes, and even if there are decent songs, they’re usually pretty short, looping quickly so you won’t listen to them for long.
Once I defeated the three antagonist witches, the game features probably the saddest ending I’ve ever seen, it’s just a text scroll and no music. I think it’s supposed to be a bad ending because I didn’t do all of the favors, which are aforementioned side quests, and it doesn’t roll the credits, but no thanks. I think this is a perfect summary of the game, there’s little fanfare in beating the game, it lacks in fun or satisfying moments, the action is subpar, the combat is lousy and the alternate playstyles that attempt to add variety are half-baked. Best to avoid this one.
You control Bloom in a story that follows the first season of the animated series. You can jump which is useful in certain areas like climbing up a ledge or jumping over some obstacle, but it feels more like a scripted event because there’s no skill involved in using this action, there's no pits to fall off or anything. You can also shoot projectiles to defeat the enemies, and said enemies are pretty annoying to deal with. The combat is not that great to begin with, you can’t strafe so you either shoot and move towards the enemy or just hope you’re facing the enemy when standing still. You can also use a shield cloak ability but I honestly didn’t find a use for it in actual combat. Lastly, you can charge your attack for a few seconds, making a more powerful torrent of fire, however when performing this action, you’re a sitting duck, and the enemies can just move out of the way, limiting it’s usefulness. The bosses are all pretty pathetic and don’t display any intelligent behavior. You can easily exploit them by making them run into a wall in a back and forth dance. They won’t try to run along the wall, they’ll continue running into a wall, then back away a little, then run back into it, making them very easy to pick off. During boss battles, you can summon Bloom’s friends to aid in battle once a special meter has been filled, but they’re made redundant thanks to the tasty cheese.
When you’re out of the first level in the park, you’re transported to Alfea, which will act as a main hub of the game, and where you’ll have to do a few tasks before moving onto the next level, and you can also take on a few side quests to find key items in different levels, though these are optional. This area reveals another issue I have with the game – the movement speed is atrocious. There’s no way to run, so you’re stuck slowly walking to your destination. On the bright side, the game does tell you your next objective by bringing a menu via Select and moving to the objectives tab with L/R, though I wish I found this earlier because I did end up wandering aimlessly which contributed to my frustration with the movement speed.
Aside from combat and fetch questing, the game also features some very basic stealth segments. Just don’t touch the enemy’s scan area and you’re golden. As you can imagine, they aren’t much fun. In fact, the only part I thought had any semblance of fun was one part in Ice Caverns, towards the end where you have to solve a few riddles, in my opinion this is the only section in the entire game that required some skill to get through, which is logical thinking. There are extra collectibles you can find in the game, fireflies that upgrade your abilities, usually you’ll find them by shaking bushes and, oddly enough, barrels, though not every single one contains those items and the procedure of checking every single object isn’t that fun. The game does make an audible cue when you’re near something interactable, be it an NPC or said object, so you don’t have to mash a button for everything in the game, this isn’t like a traditional RPG like Final Fantasy VI or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone GBC, where you can find goodies by mashing a button in every corner you can think of. Aside from fireflies, there are low-res photos that can be found or awarded for special occasions.
Graphically, the game is a mixed bag. The human characters feature large heads and small bodies, but they don’t look all that great if I’m being honest, they aren’t cure chibis, that’s for sure, and there are some characters that have normal proportions, making them stand out, in this example, Knut, the yellow guy to the right looks fine. The backgrounds on the other hand are pretty decent, Alfea itself gives me The Legend of Zelda vibes, and other areas don’t look too bad either. The game also features animated clips from the cartoon, and they’re as low quality as you’d expect, a potato put into microwave put into fridge type of quality. The music is also average, there are few memorable tunes, and even if there are decent songs, they’re usually pretty short, looping quickly so you won’t listen to them for long.
Once I defeated the three antagonist witches, the game features probably the saddest ending I’ve ever seen, it’s just a text scroll and no music. I think it’s supposed to be a bad ending because I didn’t do all of the favors, which are aforementioned side quests, and it doesn’t roll the credits, but no thanks. I think this is a perfect summary of the game, there’s little fanfare in beating the game, it lacks in fun or satisfying moments, the action is subpar, the combat is lousy and the alternate playstyles that attempt to add variety are half-baked. Best to avoid this one.
2000
While it is impressive that Rare managed to fit a 16-bit classic on to an 8-bit handheld with pretty much all the content present and then some, this is probably the worst way to play Donkey Kong Country. The physics and collision detection feel off, for example I'm clearly touching this KONG letter, yet it doesn't get collected. There are a few spots where you have to roll off the ledge to snatch a bonus, and not only the small hitbox of those pickups make that a difficult task on it's own, but the physics as well, you stall in air for a little bit when rolling, then get a quick downward momentun, practically plummeting you to your doom. I also found bouncy tires to be janky. The game features a mechanic, where once you're in air, if you press and hold the jump button, you'll automatically jump off the ground upon landing, and I think it's conflicting with the bouncy tires, and I don't always bounce off when I need to. The screen crunch doesn't help either, and the game does lag a bit more frequently, compared to the original, making this a more frustrating experience of what could be considered a flawed classic.
That's not to say this rerelease doesn't have its value. The game autosaves after each level, which is a great quality of life improvement. There's new content added to the game, such as new mini-games, Funky Fishing, which will later reappear in the Game Boy Advance remake, and Crosshair Cranky which doesn't make a comeback in any other version. What else doesn't make a comeback is a new level exclusive to this version, Necky Nutmare, featured in the last world of the game, Chimp Caverns. The level design is decent, but isn't all that noteworthy to be perfectly honest. Still, it's still a neat inclusion nontheless. The game also extends a pre-existing level, Winky's Walkway, making it longer. There are probably other level design changes that I'm not aware of.
Onto the graphics and audio. Talking about music, the game is a bit of a mixed bag. Not necessarily by the quality of the tracks, but by the track selection itself. Some tracks from the original are absent, like Misty Menace or Northern Hemispheres, the latter was replaced with Ice Cave Chant, while the level that used Ice Cave Chant in the original now uses Atlantis track from Donkey Kong Land, and there are a few more tracks from Donkey Kong Land that made their way here. Forest Frenzy is a completely original piece of music, nothing like the original. The tracks from the original also saw some changes, like how Main Theme is now faster tempo, and I actually like this 8-bit reindition, while Tree Top Town is slower, sounding more like a marching song. The music sounds fine overall, and I don't have strong favorites, aside from Main Theme. Graphically, the game looks fine as well, the game keeps the pre-rendered style of the original, although due to color limitations some frames of animation tend to look more cartoonish than realistic-like. I don't really have much to say, the graphics and animations do look appealing even with fewer colors.
If you can get past strange physics and collision detection, the game can be enjoyable and I did have some fun, though it was mostly toward the end. This is still Donkey Kong Country at its core. Still, I can't really recommend this version as it doesn't feel as tight or polished as the original. If you want a definitive Donkey Kong Country experience, play Donkey Kong Country GBA, or just stick to the SNES original.
That's not to say this rerelease doesn't have its value. The game autosaves after each level, which is a great quality of life improvement. There's new content added to the game, such as new mini-games, Funky Fishing, which will later reappear in the Game Boy Advance remake, and Crosshair Cranky which doesn't make a comeback in any other version. What else doesn't make a comeback is a new level exclusive to this version, Necky Nutmare, featured in the last world of the game, Chimp Caverns. The level design is decent, but isn't all that noteworthy to be perfectly honest. Still, it's still a neat inclusion nontheless. The game also extends a pre-existing level, Winky's Walkway, making it longer. There are probably other level design changes that I'm not aware of.
Onto the graphics and audio. Talking about music, the game is a bit of a mixed bag. Not necessarily by the quality of the tracks, but by the track selection itself. Some tracks from the original are absent, like Misty Menace or Northern Hemispheres, the latter was replaced with Ice Cave Chant, while the level that used Ice Cave Chant in the original now uses Atlantis track from Donkey Kong Land, and there are a few more tracks from Donkey Kong Land that made their way here. Forest Frenzy is a completely original piece of music, nothing like the original. The tracks from the original also saw some changes, like how Main Theme is now faster tempo, and I actually like this 8-bit reindition, while Tree Top Town is slower, sounding more like a marching song. The music sounds fine overall, and I don't have strong favorites, aside from Main Theme. Graphically, the game looks fine as well, the game keeps the pre-rendered style of the original, although due to color limitations some frames of animation tend to look more cartoonish than realistic-like. I don't really have much to say, the graphics and animations do look appealing even with fewer colors.
If you can get past strange physics and collision detection, the game can be enjoyable and I did have some fun, though it was mostly toward the end. This is still Donkey Kong Country at its core. Still, I can't really recommend this version as it doesn't feel as tight or polished as the original. If you want a definitive Donkey Kong Country experience, play Donkey Kong Country GBA, or just stick to the SNES original.
Disney's The Lion King 1½ is a standard The Lost Vikings style platformer from Vicarious Visions, and probably the first one from them. I mean, I haven't played all of their games, but this is the earliest one I know, acting as a precursor to other Lost Vikings style games from the same devs, such as Shrek 2 and... Shrek The Third. Also, apparently this game released earlier than the movie by a few months.
You play as Timon and/or Pumbaa in platforming stages to solve simple puzzles and platforming challenges to progress. Timon can jump high, climb on vines, dig certain surfaces and distract hyenas, while Puumba can charge or burp at enemies and push heavy objects, as well as act as a springboard for Timon to reach higher areas. There are also chase levels where both run away from some danger, these levels feature prompts right before obstacles that need to be crossed, which is very helpful. Every level has 40 bugs, collecting them unlocks a puzzle piece for each world, unlock all of them and a bonus level will be revealed, which is a timed challenge which awards an extra health pickup. These challenges are decent, though there are moments where you have to wait, like in first Timon challenge with spiders on vines, breaking the pace. Looking around for bugs can be beneficial, although collecting and recollecting them all can be frustrating, since the game doesn't feature checkpoints, and the bugs are like high score and won't stay collected when reentering the level, but especially in chase levels, where you practically have to memorize the layout. Aside from bugs, rarely, upgrades for Timon and Puumba's abilities can also be found, allowing for longer distraction period or burp attack more often, which end up being mildly useful. Lastly, there are one time use items, such as a remote that stops time and enemies for a brief time or clear screen bomb. The level design itself is alright, although later levels do feel like they drag on, and dying means repeating them all over.
Graphically, the game is odd. Timon, Puumba and some other characters look like they use pre-rendered sprites, even though the source material is traditionally animated. Not that they look bad, they're decently animated, but they do stand out from other hand-drawn sprites. The foreground and some backgrounds also have realistic feel to them. The music is pretty good. The game advertises animated clips from the film, available after each world, and they honestly look pretty good given the hardware, although they are brief and lack sound.
Overall, this is a pretty average Lost Vikings-style platformer. The level design is just alright and there's not that much variety and later levels get pretty frustrating because of their length and lack of checkpoints. 100% completing it can be a chore, but casually playing it, it's not a bad time.
You play as Timon and/or Pumbaa in platforming stages to solve simple puzzles and platforming challenges to progress. Timon can jump high, climb on vines, dig certain surfaces and distract hyenas, while Puumba can charge or burp at enemies and push heavy objects, as well as act as a springboard for Timon to reach higher areas. There are also chase levels where both run away from some danger, these levels feature prompts right before obstacles that need to be crossed, which is very helpful. Every level has 40 bugs, collecting them unlocks a puzzle piece for each world, unlock all of them and a bonus level will be revealed, which is a timed challenge which awards an extra health pickup. These challenges are decent, though there are moments where you have to wait, like in first Timon challenge with spiders on vines, breaking the pace. Looking around for bugs can be beneficial, although collecting and recollecting them all can be frustrating, since the game doesn't feature checkpoints, and the bugs are like high score and won't stay collected when reentering the level, but especially in chase levels, where you practically have to memorize the layout. Aside from bugs, rarely, upgrades for Timon and Puumba's abilities can also be found, allowing for longer distraction period or burp attack more often, which end up being mildly useful. Lastly, there are one time use items, such as a remote that stops time and enemies for a brief time or clear screen bomb. The level design itself is alright, although later levels do feel like they drag on, and dying means repeating them all over.
Graphically, the game is odd. Timon, Puumba and some other characters look like they use pre-rendered sprites, even though the source material is traditionally animated. Not that they look bad, they're decently animated, but they do stand out from other hand-drawn sprites. The foreground and some backgrounds also have realistic feel to them. The music is pretty good. The game advertises animated clips from the film, available after each world, and they honestly look pretty good given the hardware, although they are brief and lack sound.
Overall, this is a pretty average Lost Vikings-style platformer. The level design is just alright and there's not that much variety and later levels get pretty frustrating because of their length and lack of checkpoints. 100% completing it can be a chore, but casually playing it, it's not a bad time.
Yet another obscure licensed game not worth remembering. It's a boring collection of mini-games and fetch quests. The mini-games are mediocre at best, for example the very first mini-game is floor is lava, it reminds me of one of the Pettson & Findus games with a mini-game that has a similar premise, a platformer with randomly generated levels and they were a lot of fun. Unfortunately, this ain't that, you jump from one side of the room to another and back again on the same furniture TEN TIMES. It's incredibly repetitive. This is the issue with most mini-games actually, they're repetitive or just drag on. When you're not doing mini-games, you're just walking around collecting stuff or talking to people to progress through the story and it's not fun in the slightest. The graphics are alright, and the music, there are some decent tracks like campgrounds as Clam which is a nice calming tune, but other tracks I don't really care for. Best to skip on this game.
In my journey through licensed games, I’ve been largely dealing with games based on American properties (the only exception is Maya The Bee: Sweet Gold, based on Maya The Bee franchise that originated from Germany). Why not spice my intake of licensed games with a game based on a Japanese property? My random pick for such a game is Crayon Shin-Chan: Arashi no Yobu Cinema-Land no Daibouken! for Game Boy Advance, released only in Japan and Spain. Luckily there’s an English translation that I used to play this game. Fair warning, I knew pretty much nothing about Crayon Shin-Chan going into this, and I can tell this is a Japanese game based on a Japanese property. And y’know what? This game is actually fun.
Cinema-Land is primarily a platformer, where you simulate plots of different movies, or at least I think that’s what’s happening. You control Shin-Chan through 13 levels with different themes and gimmicks. In the first four, you’re introduced to Shin-Chan’s main suits that have different abilities, like a monke outfit that allows for walljumps and climbing vines, or super hero suit that allows for a midair kick, or beam attack that can break blocks and a frogger suit that allows to stick to some grapple things that aid in platforming. Shin-Chan’s family can be called for assistance, like dad allowing for high jumps or mom to break some blocks with “A foolproof butt slam”. You can find new abilities for the family members, although I don’t know what they do, the game doesn’t really encourage experimentation, and the descriptions aren’t clear on what the abilities even do, not only that, but they also consume hearts that can be raised by picking up their favored item, like a ring or a bottle of milk. The most basic abilities available from the start require zero hearts, and I used them the most, naturally. The advantage of movie plot simulations is that the levels are varied with their theme and/or gimmicks, although not everything works. For example, the level 3, “Unkokusai’s ambition” ends with a mecha fight that’s just a QTE. In level 7, “Burst! Hot spring battle!” There’s a very slow and boring autoscroller where a giant robot moves slowly towards you. Still, for the most part the game stays fresh and engaging. There are also mini-games, although a more appropriate term would be challenges, like challenges dedicated to costumes, such as destroying 100 enemies (which is actually not that fun), and monkey and frog suit platforming challenges, along with actual mini-games, in case you liked that QTE robo fight. There are also items for a few exchange missions for cards, which can also be found in the levels themselves, with a total of 100, although they’re shots used in the cutscenes, and you can’t unlock all of them unless you play on hard difficulty setting.
The graphics are decent. I like the cinematic animation during cutscenes, and during normal gameplay, it’s a standard 16-bit pixel art that looks great. The music on the other hand is kind of mid. I don’t mind it during cutscenes, but when playing the levels, most of them turn out to be fairly repetitive. While the movie plots are interesting, the villain twist at the end was actually pretty lame.
Overall, a soild platformer, it’s weird but has some cool ideas and challenges, and it’s fairly engaging, with decent variety and interesting stories.
Cinema-Land is primarily a platformer, where you simulate plots of different movies, or at least I think that’s what’s happening. You control Shin-Chan through 13 levels with different themes and gimmicks. In the first four, you’re introduced to Shin-Chan’s main suits that have different abilities, like a monke outfit that allows for walljumps and climbing vines, or super hero suit that allows for a midair kick, or beam attack that can break blocks and a frogger suit that allows to stick to some grapple things that aid in platforming. Shin-Chan’s family can be called for assistance, like dad allowing for high jumps or mom to break some blocks with “A foolproof butt slam”. You can find new abilities for the family members, although I don’t know what they do, the game doesn’t really encourage experimentation, and the descriptions aren’t clear on what the abilities even do, not only that, but they also consume hearts that can be raised by picking up their favored item, like a ring or a bottle of milk. The most basic abilities available from the start require zero hearts, and I used them the most, naturally. The advantage of movie plot simulations is that the levels are varied with their theme and/or gimmicks, although not everything works. For example, the level 3, “Unkokusai’s ambition” ends with a mecha fight that’s just a QTE. In level 7, “Burst! Hot spring battle!” There’s a very slow and boring autoscroller where a giant robot moves slowly towards you. Still, for the most part the game stays fresh and engaging. There are also mini-games, although a more appropriate term would be challenges, like challenges dedicated to costumes, such as destroying 100 enemies (which is actually not that fun), and monkey and frog suit platforming challenges, along with actual mini-games, in case you liked that QTE robo fight. There are also items for a few exchange missions for cards, which can also be found in the levels themselves, with a total of 100, although they’re shots used in the cutscenes, and you can’t unlock all of them unless you play on hard difficulty setting.
The graphics are decent. I like the cinematic animation during cutscenes, and during normal gameplay, it’s a standard 16-bit pixel art that looks great. The music on the other hand is kind of mid. I don’t mind it during cutscenes, but when playing the levels, most of them turn out to be fairly repetitive. While the movie plots are interesting, the villain twist at the end was actually pretty lame.
Overall, a soild platformer, it’s weird but has some cool ideas and challenges, and it’s fairly engaging, with decent variety and interesting stories.
Castlevania Anniversary Collection is on the better side of video game compilations. It contains whopping 8 classic games, including one NES Kid Dracula that was officially translated for the first time, and it even includes japanese versions of these games, except for Castlevania II, and Castlevania uses a famicom cartridge rerelease, which notably contains easy difficulty option. If japanese versions counted as extra games, the total would be 15. Extras include a sizeable Bonus Book that contains box arts, design documents, interviews and other goodies, the ability to use a savestate and a few visual options, like scanline and full screen. Overall, a great package of classic games for those looking for classic whippin' action.
It's alright, nothing crazy. The levels are pretty linear with occasional nook and cranny. The level design is alright, and the combat is fairly repetitive, there's not much enemy variety. There are frustrating aspects, like sections where you have to throw an objects at something and these are pretty slow and boring, and if you fail, you'll have to repeat them again, although there aren't many instances of this. The collecathon aspect is actually kinda lame. There's loads of coins that are only required for the last level to beat the game, aside from that there are stars, the only collectibles that are actually useful, as they augment abilities for every 50, like adding a glide ability to the jump, or making midair tail attack more powerful or allowing to roll indefinitely. Lastly, there are crystals that unlock worhtless mini-games, like button mashing for beavers to drop a tree, or button mashing for a race. There's not much to say really, it's a fine enough 3D platformer if you're starving for those, but if you want a great 3D platformer experience, play something else, like Super Mario 64, or Ratatouille for the Wii.
1998
This game definitely feels like it hasn't aged all that well. I found myself to be consistently frustrated with the game's design, with trial and error and occasionally straight up cheap death moments. I cannot imagine playing this game without save scumming, and while I'm thankful that you can save at any time, that shouldn't excuse poor design. The game also doesn't control that well. The player character's movement feels slippery, and midair control isn't good. The ladders are jank. It's influential and an important piece of gaming history, but I didn't like playing it all that much. It's alright, but it's no masterpiece.