I had vague memories of playing this in 2004 or so and thinking the first third of the game was cool and the rest felt like torture. It didn't last long in my library until I traded it in. Around 15 years later, I found it for dirt cheap online and decided to give it one more try.
I understand why it was dirt cheap.
The game is pretty much Bootleg Klonoa. You use your umbrella to "bubblize" enemies and use them as projectiles. You also have a few platforming moves, like a glide, a shield, and a ground pound. Overall, it has a few cool things going on, but not enough to save it. Like I said earlier, the first third of is pretty decent and varied. After the first boss though, you start getting the creeping realization that you've already seen everything this game has to offer. Most obstacles are just "do you have the patience to wait for this hazard to turn off" or "push this button and wait through an unskippable 20 second cutscene showing you that the path 2 feet away from you is now open."
It gets very repetitive very quickly. It gets worse as it goes on because the levels get longer which means more obstacles to wait through. You also need increasingly more collectibles from each level to progress through the hub, so if you don't collect enough in your first run through a level, you'll have to play it again. Each level also has a bonus round where you have to run through an obstacle course with some sort of time limit. You get an excruciatingly long cutscene that pans through the course and you have to watch it every time you die. Even the bosses are repetitive; each time you fight him, he just adds 1 new phase. The whole thing just feels like a waste of time. Your mind will go numb while you physically feel each minute ticking by while you play this game.
I understand why it was dirt cheap.
The game is pretty much Bootleg Klonoa. You use your umbrella to "bubblize" enemies and use them as projectiles. You also have a few platforming moves, like a glide, a shield, and a ground pound. Overall, it has a few cool things going on, but not enough to save it. Like I said earlier, the first third of is pretty decent and varied. After the first boss though, you start getting the creeping realization that you've already seen everything this game has to offer. Most obstacles are just "do you have the patience to wait for this hazard to turn off" or "push this button and wait through an unskippable 20 second cutscene showing you that the path 2 feet away from you is now open."
It gets very repetitive very quickly. It gets worse as it goes on because the levels get longer which means more obstacles to wait through. You also need increasingly more collectibles from each level to progress through the hub, so if you don't collect enough in your first run through a level, you'll have to play it again. Each level also has a bonus round where you have to run through an obstacle course with some sort of time limit. You get an excruciatingly long cutscene that pans through the course and you have to watch it every time you die. Even the bosses are repetitive; each time you fight him, he just adds 1 new phase. The whole thing just feels like a waste of time. Your mind will go numb while you physically feel each minute ticking by while you play this game.