(someone PLEASE get this H I D E O U S boxart off of igdb)

A weird Japanese-produced platformer that takes lots of cues from American animation-driven platformers of the time - stuff like Earthworm Jim, Aladdin, Pitfall The Mayan Adventure, etc. You see it in the odd maze-like structure, generally scrimblo-y visual excess, scattered humor, and often poor player systems communication. I don't think it's a coincidence, either: Lots of Sega of America staff members are credited under production and playtesting.

The amount of animation frames put into everything is staggering, and definitely the visual highlight. There's at least 100-200 frames of Tempo and Katy just dancing. Stage 2 has a section where a huge amount of draw() function patterns play in the background at rapid fire. I'm not keen for everything it aims for aesthetically - tends to be a little tacky and overkill, - but when it's cute, it's cute.

Is this the kind of visual choice that can 'sell' a concept like 32X? Besides memory and RAM limitations, there's little holding Sega back from doing something like this on Genesis - hell, they did it again on Game Gear. Idk, doesn't really show off anything 32X can do unless you're a die-hard Genny nerd and know all of its limitations, processing specs and display quirks. I don't know if the everyday 9-to-5er is gonna chomp at the bit to buy a 32X because a boot-shaped boss rotated a few times.

Main thing holding it back is the control - Tempo feels like shit. Your walk is deathly too slow, but your run is too fast and very difficult to cancel. There's a .3 second pause whenever you turn around while on land, all to justify those turning animation frames they spent so much money on. There's also issues with collision detection, enemy placement, attack range, etc.

Also, for a game so overtly music-themed, damn it has a mid soundtrack. The music in each stage 'evolves' as you progress and find Katy, but it's at the detriment of both song length and memorability. Stage 2 and 4 get extremely repetitive. I think there's some GEMS presets snuck in here, too; more evidence of the US/JP team collaboration.

Idk. Fun idea, lots of ideas and content under one cart, and cool in retrospect. It ain't no Ristar or Dynamite Headdy though: Both games that do the 'concept album platformer' mold with a more cohesive and mechanically-appropriate flow.