Bat Boy may have sadly been relegated to be my "Tears of the Kingdom break-game", but I actually had been looking forward to it for a while, and it mostly met my expectations.

The game excells in level design and presentation. Its story may be lacking and its dialogue cringeworthy, but as any other game of its ilk, narrative isn't a priority (at least I can tell it's sincere, if not very competent writing).

I'm a bit mixed on the special abilities you gain throughout the game. They're mostly good and expand your options (even if some are a little redundant), but all of them share the same stamina resource. Imagine if every weapon in a Mega Man game shared the same energy bar, it would suck, right? Now imagine if that energy bar could only be replenished at checkpoins, no energy drops from enemies. I'm aware there are consumables that restore some stamina, but I still think it's needlessly restrictive and reduces the incentive to make the most out of your entire moveset.

Despite my gripes, I had a great time with Bat Boy. It has one of the smoothest and most enjoyable difficulty curves I've experienced in a while, and all its stages are high quality and of decent length. I think it's reasonably priced too, so if anyone is on the fence about buying it, any sale would make it a no brainer.