1995
Can't believe that this clunky Gameboy game has better water controls than most platformers that came after it.
1986
Probably the worst difficulty curve I've experienced. The first level is hell (both figuratively and literally) but after that it gets progressively easier. Not only due to you tanking more but the level design also gets more forgiving. Oh and the flying controls for the final level feel terrible. Other than that: Fun and cute platformer with some interesting mechanics
I'm a lady now
2000
There is a good game buried deeeeeep under mostly bad minigames, mediocre music and a pretty unrefined system.
The core concept does a lot to stand out from contemporary party games and it definitely had the potential to be the basis for a much better game but it needed a lot more thought put into it and a much better game around it.
The core concept does a lot to stand out from contemporary party games and it definitely had the potential to be the basis for a much better game but it needed a lot more thought put into it and a much better game around it.
2001
Incredible fun micromanaging puzzle game that is sometimes a bit frustrating but will always manage to put a smile on your face through its charming presentation. It is really bogged down by the arbitrary time limit though.
1996
Truly an overlooked gem in the surreal horror genre!!
TBD
Whoever the play testers were that said that this game wasn't worth putting onto the market have absolutely no idea what makes a good game. I don't think I ever had this much fun with a falling blocks puzzle game. So unique, you have to wrap your head around it first, and so rewarding.
Pretty much an improvement on almost all fronts compared to the first game. Fun new environments, levels and power-up and actually working controls.
This game is very easy but it makes up for it with the very challenging last level, which was fun to beat.
I'd say my biggest complaints would be the music, a lot of silence and a synthesizer I could only describe as "squeeking tire" make this soundtrack very unmemorable, which is a shame because the first game has one of my favourite gameboy soundtracks.
This game is fun, but it is what it is, a platformer on the go. A game you would play on a long car ride and maybe replay it once or twice but then you have pretty much no reason to go back to it (except if you are very nostalgic for it)
This game is very easy but it makes up for it with the very challenging last level, which was fun to beat.
I'd say my biggest complaints would be the music, a lot of silence and a synthesizer I could only describe as "squeeking tire" make this soundtrack very unmemorable, which is a shame because the first game has one of my favourite gameboy soundtracks.
This game is fun, but it is what it is, a platformer on the go. A game you would play on a long car ride and maybe replay it once or twice but then you have pretty much no reason to go back to it (except if you are very nostalgic for it)
1989
Let's begin with what I actually liked about this game:
The overall presentation is pretty stellar, the simple sprites and the very catchy music create a charm which never really was captured anymore.
Many inventive environments and enemies make this game feel much fresher and more unique than modern iderations of the 2D Mario platformers, even staples like Koopas got reworked (even though it's probably just due to the gameboys limitations)
However, the fact that this is an early Gameboy game comes to this games detriment.
This game is very hard, which in itself is probably more a positive than a negative but it's hard not because of well crafted challenging level design but because the controls and physics just don't work or are completely counter intuitive.
I know it may seem unfair to critique this game based on its controls considering it was the first gameboy platformer but Nintendo proved that they are able to create timeless controls when breaking new grounds as we saw in Super Mario Bros. or in Super Mario 64, their first attempt at creating a 3D platformer.
But what in particular about the controls and physics is so bad that I would rate this game so low?
Turning mid-air sometimes is just not possible for no apparent reason, you gain immediate moment when jumping which you completely lose after just a couple of frames, Mario sometimes just stops moving mid-air and compared to the moon gravity falling physics after you perform a jump you sink like a huge rock when you just walk of a cliff which let me to fall into the abyss on multiple occasions because I just wanted to walk down onto the platform below.
You can't collect mushrooms for some frames and they are often placed next to pits so you just jump through them and they fall into the void.
These all seem like very minor and nit-picky complaints but if you add them up you end up with a very frustrating experience, you die not because you as a player failed but because the game failed you.
The number one job of a platformer should be to ensure that the player feels in control of the character, which this game fails completely.
The level-design is what I would consider fairly decent but I also had some gripes with that:
Moving platforms have no indicator where they start or end so you have to wait a cycle until you can jump which grinds the game to a hold.
I died two times of unavoidable obstacles (boulder appearing right in front of my face and in a level where all spikes on top don't do anything one just does damage (and it's one where you would want to jump high to avoid having to jump onto a miniscule platform))
Overall, fun presentation, frustrating unresponsive everything else
The overall presentation is pretty stellar, the simple sprites and the very catchy music create a charm which never really was captured anymore.
Many inventive environments and enemies make this game feel much fresher and more unique than modern iderations of the 2D Mario platformers, even staples like Koopas got reworked (even though it's probably just due to the gameboys limitations)
However, the fact that this is an early Gameboy game comes to this games detriment.
This game is very hard, which in itself is probably more a positive than a negative but it's hard not because of well crafted challenging level design but because the controls and physics just don't work or are completely counter intuitive.
I know it may seem unfair to critique this game based on its controls considering it was the first gameboy platformer but Nintendo proved that they are able to create timeless controls when breaking new grounds as we saw in Super Mario Bros. or in Super Mario 64, their first attempt at creating a 3D platformer.
But what in particular about the controls and physics is so bad that I would rate this game so low?
Turning mid-air sometimes is just not possible for no apparent reason, you gain immediate moment when jumping which you completely lose after just a couple of frames, Mario sometimes just stops moving mid-air and compared to the moon gravity falling physics after you perform a jump you sink like a huge rock when you just walk of a cliff which let me to fall into the abyss on multiple occasions because I just wanted to walk down onto the platform below.
You can't collect mushrooms for some frames and they are often placed next to pits so you just jump through them and they fall into the void.
These all seem like very minor and nit-picky complaints but if you add them up you end up with a very frustrating experience, you die not because you as a player failed but because the game failed you.
The number one job of a platformer should be to ensure that the player feels in control of the character, which this game fails completely.
The level-design is what I would consider fairly decent but I also had some gripes with that:
Moving platforms have no indicator where they start or end so you have to wait a cycle until you can jump which grinds the game to a hold.
I died two times of unavoidable obstacles (boulder appearing right in front of my face and in a level where all spikes on top don't do anything one just does damage (and it's one where you would want to jump high to avoid having to jump onto a miniscule platform))
Overall, fun presentation, frustrating unresponsive everything else