Definitely weird this game came out 25 years ago! It's a shame the creative 2D platformer got more or less abandoned by the AAA industry in favor of perfunctory puzzle platformers (Limbo, lol), metaphor platformers (... I'll let you imagine what I'm referring to..).
Somehow the precision here reminds me of Crash Bandicoot. The level structures remind me of the longer levels in Yoshi's Island (the throwing does, too), and the quick escalation of the drama remind me of the progression within shmups and the areas you visit.
Visually/sonically creative, I liked the dynamic music moments throughout.
I found the level design to be a bit all over the place - the lives system feels very of the time, it adds a lot of pointless tension, especially to boss fights. You can lose lives pretty fast to slip ups (bumped into a pit, etc), but I never actually had a game over on my playthrough.
At its best moments, chaining the double jumps feels fun. At its worst, the tiny windows and overly nuanced controls of performing these moves got in the way. The game's levels sometimes use puzzles, which can be interesting, but in many cases execution is difficult despite the solution being obvious. Not to mention the awkward jutting in of the health system and slowly being whittled down as you try to execute a puzzle correctly.
Many of the puzzles have cycles that slowly run out of sync (e.g. an obstacle and the enemy you need to grab), which can make figuring out proper timing more frustrating than it needs to be.
I like to joke that the instant a platformer has the tiny, 1-tile width platforms, it's run out of ideas - a moment which came a bit early in Klonoa IIRC.
Many of the later levels run way too long, 15-25 minutes on a first playthrough. I think the moveset just isn't versatile enough for this game to be that interesting to move around in... it honestly felt kind of like a exploratory platformer + puzzles + perfunctory precision platforming. However, the overall arc of the game feels great - reminds me of recent longform indies. The story is simple and cheaply sentimental, but the way the 12 stages escalate drama and take you through its world was fun and what kept me going.
The problem here is kind of in the moveset... I think the level designers did a good job with what they had to work with (honestly, an enemy-dependent double jump and a near-useless flutter aren't much). The levels are visually creative, though the camera does move too much.. some of the middle levels made me a bit sick.
I do appreciate the development team's dedication to making such a tightly-knit game - the density of just, level, cutscenes, bosses, is kind of neat and I like how there's not too much filler.
Somehow the precision here reminds me of Crash Bandicoot. The level structures remind me of the longer levels in Yoshi's Island (the throwing does, too), and the quick escalation of the drama remind me of the progression within shmups and the areas you visit.
Visually/sonically creative, I liked the dynamic music moments throughout.
I found the level design to be a bit all over the place - the lives system feels very of the time, it adds a lot of pointless tension, especially to boss fights. You can lose lives pretty fast to slip ups (bumped into a pit, etc), but I never actually had a game over on my playthrough.
At its best moments, chaining the double jumps feels fun. At its worst, the tiny windows and overly nuanced controls of performing these moves got in the way. The game's levels sometimes use puzzles, which can be interesting, but in many cases execution is difficult despite the solution being obvious. Not to mention the awkward jutting in of the health system and slowly being whittled down as you try to execute a puzzle correctly.
Many of the puzzles have cycles that slowly run out of sync (e.g. an obstacle and the enemy you need to grab), which can make figuring out proper timing more frustrating than it needs to be.
I like to joke that the instant a platformer has the tiny, 1-tile width platforms, it's run out of ideas - a moment which came a bit early in Klonoa IIRC.
Many of the later levels run way too long, 15-25 minutes on a first playthrough. I think the moveset just isn't versatile enough for this game to be that interesting to move around in... it honestly felt kind of like a exploratory platformer + puzzles + perfunctory precision platforming. However, the overall arc of the game feels great - reminds me of recent longform indies. The story is simple and cheaply sentimental, but the way the 12 stages escalate drama and take you through its world was fun and what kept me going.
The problem here is kind of in the moveset... I think the level designers did a good job with what they had to work with (honestly, an enemy-dependent double jump and a near-useless flutter aren't much). The levels are visually creative, though the camera does move too much.. some of the middle levels made me a bit sick.
I do appreciate the development team's dedication to making such a tightly-knit game - the density of just, level, cutscenes, bosses, is kind of neat and I like how there's not too much filler.